Exchange student Julia Dunn held a poetry slam last Thursday night in a James Cook University first. 

By Jemma Boisen

The Uni Club created history last Thursday night by holding a poetry slam, organised by American exchange student Julia Dunn.

THIS SICK BEAT: Event Organiser Julie Dunn slam-dunks her poetry reading CREDIT: Luke Brooks

Julia, an environmental education major, said that poetry is something that she and her friends really enjoy at home in the United States.

“It’s been great sharing something that shows my identity and giving back to the university.”

“I hope to organize more slams before I go back home, hopefully once a month,” Miss Dunn said.

The poetry slam featured nine poets who had four to five poems written, and was hosted by JCU student and comedian from the Comedy Generation, Laurie Page.

One of the first applicants, 17 year old Chloe Dow, said the night was a major success.

“I was really happy that I made it into the second round…I feel more confident in my writing and oral skills now because of the poetry slam,” Chloe said.

The poetry slam progressed through four elimination rounds resulting in a winner, Olivia Lee Mei Lin.

Olivia, a Malaysian exchange student, experienced competitive poetry writing for the first time.

“I saw the poetry slam flyer and my friends suggested I do it.”

“This was the first time I wrote something serious,” Olivia said.

Julia received many applicants for the slam but had to turn some away due to popularity.

WORDSMITH: The Poetry Slam crowd enjoying the rhymes CREDIT: Luke Brooks

Julia hopes the next slam is bigger and better with a more vocal audience.

“Back home in New York the audience yells out and participates more with the poet,” said Julia.

To join the next poetry slam at JCU, contact Julia Dunn or look out for a new flyer posted around campus.

JCU students highlight struggles of bullying and friendship.

By Sandra Haaland

Bullying, teenage struggles and friendship were a few of the themes depicted in Art Curriculum One’s play ‘Gemma and Kate and Willow’  last week.

The inspiration for the play came from everyday stories told by year eight girls from St Margaret Mary’s College.

Art Curriculum One student Shauna Crabbe with help from fellow students wrote ‘Gemma and Kate and Willow’ which was performed by students for St Margaret Mary’s College and JCU.

“The girls at the school really enjoyed talking to us and said they connected with the topics discussed and they could recognize that we had used some of their stories in the play,” Shauna says.

“We basically took the stories as inspiration and changed it into a script, because we had to choose a storyline and tried to incorporate the ideas and story’s from the girls.”

The play takes place at a college with scenes from the classroom, bus stop, bus and a park.

Play: Students performing the play.

For the past seven weeks, JCU students have been interviewing the girls, converting their stories into a script and rehearsing the play.

Shauna says the process of making the script was a long road, but she is happy with the outcome.

“I had to rewrite the script a fair few times and as our class are very respectful to each other, no one would step on anyone’s toes and because of that we were circling our tales for about five weeks before our final product was made,” Shauna says.

The students also introduced social media platform Facebook as a ‘character,’ played by drama major student Laurence Page.

Laurence Page as the ‘character’ Facebook

“To do Facebook was an excellent idea, and the college girls loved it,” Laurence says.

“In a process like this I find it very hard to do the same thing every week and a good actor would just do the lines and change it up but I just had to mess with the script entirely but it made it fun and kept people interested I hope.”

Acting: Laurence Page as the ‘character’ Facebook

It is the first time that an Art Curriculum One class has performed a project like this at JCU.

“We are the first group to do this and there are some kinks that need to be worked out for the next group,” Laurence says.

“It gives an opportunity to students who don’t have a lot of experience with drama to implement actual drama techniques, were sitting in a classroom and taking notes isn’t giving them that knowledge.”

A Townsville artist is breaking the boundaries with his paints and pens by sketching his artwork onto everyday items.

By Madeline Whiting

Artist Andrew Huxley, an avid drawer since grade three, has turned his hobby into a business after being recognized by James Cook University scouts when he was 17.

Andrew stumbled upon his popular creations by accident after growing tired of his plain white work shoes.

“It was actually a bit of a joke,” Andrew says.

“I had to have closed in shoes for one of my jobs and I chucked on a pair of these white plain canvas shoes.

“I just thought ‘oh y’know whatever.

“They’re plain, they’re fine, they’re ordinary’.

“After a week or so of wearing them I just thought ‘y’know, I could draw on these’.”

Talented: Andrew’s colourful artwork on a pair of shoes.

It soon became obvious that ‘object art’ could become a phenomenon.

Andrew has hosted sold out workshops where he teaches enthusiasts how to draw on everyday items such as skateboard decks, shoes, motorbike helmets, hats and lamps.

His self-funded business, HEC Art is becoming a local sensation.

A small group of artists have taken a liking to Andrew’s artwork and have begun collaborating to recreate their own artwork onto items.

Fellow artist Kieran Archer says he is more than impressed with what his friend and colleague Andrew has done with his artwork.

“I think he’s done a great job in creating art that everyone can enjoy, as well as making it something usable that can be enjoyed much more than art hung in a gallery or on the wall at home,” Kieran says.

“Plus he’s identified and supplied to a niche market that really capitalizes on the desire within many to show their individualism, especially with every piece he does being unique and not just mass produced pop art to cash in.”

Andrew will be holding more workshops in the future and hopes to bring out his own website soon to sell his preexisting artwork and to reach a much broader audience.

“I’m getting more serious now with an online store that I want to bring out,” he says.

“The end game of course is having a shop where I can sell it [artwork] and also where I can teach it.”

Some of Andrew’s artwork on shoes can be seen at stores Jay Jays and Novo in Townsville.

To see more examples of Andrew’s art and to keep updated on upcoming workshops,   like his Facebook page HEC Art.

The internationally recognised Screengrab New Media Arts exhibition returned for its fourth year in August, with one talented digital artist walking away with a $5000 cash prize.

WINNER: A screengrab of Jo Lawrence’s winning entry Ylem

By Stephanie Waller

The annual Screengrab New Media Arts exhibition opened on August 10, showcasing the digital artwork of 18 finalists.

The international call for entries was put out in May this year, asking artists to explore the competition theme of ‘control’. More than 170 entries were received from a total of 21 countries.

JCU’s New Media Arts coordinator Mitch Goodwin was the driving force behind the Screengrab competition when it began four years ago.

“The School of Creative Arts had moved into a brand-new facility in which there was a designated space for showing artwork,” Mr Goodwin said.

“The agenda was to create a gallery that was very different to what was available elsewhere in North Queensland and was more aligned with the delivery of our Bachelor of New Media Arts degree.

“I proposed we establish a prize for a screen-based media artwork, and that this be advertised through electronic and media art email lists in not just Australia but also in Europe, Asia and the United States.

“This would bring, via the web, cutting edge creative work to Townsville where it could be viewed by both the public and JCU students.”

Mr Goodwin said this year, the competition received many “diverse perceptions” of the proposed competition theme ‘control’.

“The very interesting aspect to the entries was they interpreted the theme of control in so many different ways,” he said.

“Some interpreted this to mean a loss of self-control, for others it was about being out of control or living within an established order which was showing signs of increased levels of control.

“Other pieces demonstrated how the artists had set about subverting and/or disrupting these modes of external control.”

Competition judges Bernadette Ashley (Moviemento Studios), Jak Henson (Perc Tucker Regional Gallery) and JCU Creative Arts lecturer Dr Steven Campbell chose 18 finalists out of the 171 entries, announcing the winner at the opening of the exhibition.

The winner of the $5000 award (donated by the JCU School of Creative Arts) was London-based artist Jo Lawrence for her digital piece titled Ylem.

Mr Goodwin said Lawrence’s artwork was a standout for the judges and imaginatively represented the competition’s theme.

“The work was very well constructed and technically the elements were very precisely organised. It had numerous layers of subtext and addressed the theme in a very direct and imaginative way,” he said.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvJsWMsJOdo[/youtube]

The finalists’ work will be on show at JCU’s School of Creative Arts eMerge Media Space until September 5. Click here to view Jo Lawrence’s winning digital piece online.