Starcrossing; Kitchen Madness; Phantasmagoria; A Pangolin’s Tale; Fridge and Chaos are some of the most varied I personally can remember seeing at the Degree Show. No two are alike in style or tone, spanning a refreshing mix of genres from the comedic to the mystical to the horrific. What they do have in common is the fact that they all successfully continue to uphold the high bar of quality that can be expected from the showcase.
Jaeden Cargill makes large gestural paintings and installations which incorporate collage, montage
and video overlaid to create dynamic moving images. The paintings suggest a succession of
splintered images, events and concepts that recall the thinking of Deleuze and Bergmann.
Graduates using bold, graphic styles include Zofia Chamienia’s use of flat, contrasting colours
creates a collage-like effect, with bold colourways such as hot pink, orange and white on a black
background. Her simplified figures are full of lively movement and energy. Tia Fox has created a
beautiful set of large, wooden 2-d images of dinosaurs, to complement her informative children’s
book. Her use of intense, dark greens and browns creates a sense of weight for the reptiles and gives
the illusion of a natural environment for them.
In a dimmed corner of the fine artworks on display on the fifth floor, Maria Touloupa’s Divine Femininity enlightens contemporary female divinity through dreamy saints superimposed upon their reflection on clear acrylic. Touloupa, who is concerned with evanescing traditions and a world which is ‘but a surreal imitation of normality’, accentuates religious iconography with manipulated photography to create an ‘almost illusionary world’ which reflects upon the absurdity of our own world, which is occupied by almost fanatical societal developments such as Artificial Intelligence.
Grab your boots and your spurs, “oh it’s a beautiful morning” in Oklahoma!
Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma! has made its way from Broadway in the flying forties, to amateur theatrical productions worldwide, and finally the Dundee Youth Music Theatre brings it to the Dundee Rep.
Introduced as ‘poetry to read to the monsters under your bed,’ Sadie Maskery’s first full-length collection unearths magical tropes, blending imagination with scepticism. Her writing permeates the borders between dreams and reality, past and present, attachment and loss in ways that are both whimsical and haunting.
The mythological state of history can cast a shadow on the apparent mundanity of contemporary life. It can be tempting to look at the world and proclaim that we have reached the end of a time where people can look at the world around them with childish wonder. It takes poetic works such as Ruth Mcllroy’s The pot of Earth and the Iron Pot to reinvigorate the majesty of day-to-day life, dissipating the numbness that often accompanies familiarity.
It’s safe to say that The Vagina Monologues is not a play that everyone wants to see. A combination of observations, monologues inspired by interviews about women’s relationships and experiences with their vaginas, and facts about genitalia, the play remains legendary in feminist culture, but is often prefaced by “could you imagine watching…” by others. From the beginning of the play, the point was made clear: ’think about your vagina. Do you like it?’
Intricately lyrical, Dai George’s second collection Karaoke King is infused with musicality and rhythm. Through styles ranging from reggae to calypso to jingles, this deft fusion of themes and contemplations explores concerns surrounding politics and climate change, and trepidation in approaching an increasingly digitalised world….
Eric Ngalle Charles’ work covers his life and experiences as an individual with an identity that has been pushed, and stretched over and around the world. As the blurb describes, his life is one of displacement and trafficking, being taken from his home in Cameroon to Russia, before finally settling in Wales, from where he now describes his story.