ARTSNIGHT: IRVINE WELSH

Knowing that this was being filmed early on (from my not-so-secret insider at The Biscuit Factory) I had high hopes and high expectations, and in many ways the documentary totally hit it. I'm just pretty suprised (at myself for one) that I had to be prompted to be offended by the fact that there are zero female artists interviewed or mentioned in the documentary. Of course, props to all the talented men featured, but it'd be nice to have a 'wee' mention of the female Scots - their strong accents aren't representative of nothing!

I found it particularly interesting watching the mouth move to the Scottish rhymes spoken by Kevin Williamson & Michael Pederson. The spoken word is so much more passionate with the Scottish twang, and as much as I used to hate (sorry not sorry) the accent, it's grown on me! I was really drawn to the works of Kevin Harman, whose project in 2008 - Love Thy Neighbour saw him bring together neighbours by ‘borrowing’ the doormats from outside the front doors of tenement buildings and inviting the entirety of the neighbourhood to collect them in an effort to create pretty much a giant social gathering I would say (a doormat party??). This is the kind of Art I have passion for. Art with purpose, meaning, and perhaps an element of sociality.

Watch it here.

TV: SCREAM QUEENS

On my first day back from London I decided it was time for a bit of a rest, my poor feet were sore and all of my best clothes had to be thrown in a wash (definitely not leaving the house in my not-best clothes). This meant it was TV-time, probably one of my favourite methods of escapism, after books of course. I'd caught the trailer for Scream Queens earlier this year and made sure I tucked it away at the back of my head so that when the time came I'd find and watch it. I have a slight aversion to Emma Roberts, but quite the opposite for directors Ryan Murphy & Brad Falchuk (creators of my ultimate favourite American Horror Story). I generally thought Emma Roberts was somewhat talentless and probably suited a secondary role in Mean Girls back in 2004, but her lead role in Scream Queens struck me as suited and STRONG.



SQ is a little bit more comedy that AHS, the storyline is predictably ridiculous but the set design, costume design and casting is impeccable. Ariana Grande smashing the dumb, beautiful sorority girl, and Emma doing likewise but in an altogether dark and pretty nonchalant manner. I inevitably was super intrigued by the sorority lifestyle, most predictably because I have literally no idea what it entails (apart from the crazy odd stories I'm fed through social media and of course, the wild minds of directors like Murphy & Falchuk). So here's what I've gathered, from a little online research...



It's a brotherhood or sisterhood where you are basically blood bound to keep each others secrets, have a heavily vetted method of entry (aka a becoming 'one of us' ceremony) and use a 'complex identification symbol' as an identity. So basically everything social media and mass media claim. I'll do a bit more digging and see what I can find.

LFW: DAY I

My first day back in London after more than a year of being away has been a concoction of crazy, in only a good way of course. The buildings are just as tall, defined and sharp to the eye as I remember, and the city is just as dirty as I remember too. But all the grime is noticed within the first few minutes and then forgotten for the 'London is a land of opportunity' that everyone screams with their too busy vibes and no-time-to-say-thank-you lifestyle.

My first show of LFW was Bora Aksu, where I spotted two new-faces on the Scottish modelling industry scene. Bora Aksu was a commotion, it almost seemed as though the brightness and buzz of soho translated into the show like I have never experienced before (not like the shows at Somerset House at least). The show began by introducing us to a selection of baby pink clothes that made me instantly think of baby clothes (perhaps not in a good way), but gradually transformed into artisanal, structured dresses that I hadn't quite experienced the like of before. Beginning with a cream, off white number that created a disjunction between boldness and delicacy in it's stand out flowering shapes, models continued to produce dresses of different colours, silhouettes and lengths all strongly projecting this disjunction in theme.

Then came Jean-Pierre Braganza - quite a contrast to the somewhat fun colour and print from Bora Aksu. Braganza cleverly used his invitation as a translation of his collection, establishing the theme to his audience. The tricolour pieces and continuous print created an extremely strong glue between his pieces and an overbearing theme. I thoroughly enjoyed the seemingly computer generated print that flowed through the collection, which made me wonder where it came from and what it was an adaption of. The bold red and stark white were a colour palette sure to succeed.

With the two 'big-time' shows over it was only right that I then headed to the very fun, very bright, presentation of Clio Peppiatt's SS16 collection. Pink isn't entirely my favourite colour, but Peppiatt did it right with her textures, short cuts and fun-loving prints. It became obvious to me that the collection was accessible in a positive and endearing manner, truly communicated by the cheeky (staged?) nature of Peppiatt's chosen presentation models.