By JOHN – The SCA Intake of 2017/18

 

What is the best dot you collected over the half term break?

 

Meg: I went to the Gursky exhibition at Southbank Centre – it was a fantastic photography exhibition which really showed human truths within the work… And it got me thinking about the possibilities of photo retouching/stitching.

 

Another dot was today… Poppy and I ended up being approached by a professional spanker called “Mr Green”, who spoke to us for 2 hours about his 30+ years in the spanking industry, showed us a few paddles he’d made and even offered us a free public spanking… We politely declined.

 

Sara: I went on a day trip around the Highlands. Being surrounded by different nationalities (and hairy coos) all day was great. Hearing them talk about traditionally British products was so interesting, definitely a market to crack.

 

Becky: I went to see a Japanese play called ‘Pluto’. Not 100% my taste (it’s a production about robots and AI) but it got my head out of advertising for a second which was GREAT. Plus it was in Japanese so I was forced to read actual words for a good 2 hours.

 

Rachel: This break was a whirlwind again, not really a break either, for you future students that might be reading. Half term is not what you’ve experienced before here. I went to do a food shop with 2 of my friends who are “young mums” and although I had more Sca type dot collecting days, this one was one that I think was better than gallery exploring and film watching because I experienced something different. I experienced truth in what it’s like to actually have a family of your own at the age of 23 which is something far from watching teen mom og. I’ve got so many insights from how mum’s do regret choices, how complicated their lives feel to them although it looks like the simple life to the outside and how they feel about people like me who wants to wait for all of that until I have sorted my career out. When you’re sat in Sca 5 days a week, it’s easy to think you know something or an audience because of the internet vs actually living it, even for a day.

 

@JONOTHANKH: I could easily say galleries, unknown movies, exhibitions — but actually, the ‘dot’ that made me stop and stare was a midnight jazz performance on the outer edge of Clapham.

Watching the people there, I realised what so many of us want: meaning from other people.

Imagine a darkly lit room, 40 odd doing their own dance — in sync to incredibly sensitive brass platitudes. It was amazing to be part of it. It was, I think for everyone in that room, ideal; people loving something in their own way and expressing it together, un-judged.

I wanted the whole world to be in that room.

 

Poppy: I went to some great exhibitions (personal fav’ was one on Glitterbox, and Ibiza rave culture), but the best dot was a long conversation with a professional spanker. The ‘Spankdaddy’, or ‘Smackbottomist’ (as he likes to refer to himself), was a very interesting character; one who confirmed that you should never judge a book by it’s cover.

 

Zoe : I spoke a lot of farming lingo this weekend and learnt a lot about the industry I didn’t know. Very inspiring//annoying/eye opening and got ideas for future campaigns which are very much needed! Lambing season and all.

 

Henry: Went to my little brother’s photography exhibition. I was actually quite proud of the little bastard, there were some good dots.

 

Jem: My little sister came to visit for a couple of days. We went gallery hopping and one of the ones we wanted to go to was closed for refurbishments so we just wandered around until we saw something interesting. We came across a comic museum and went in. Spent an hour copying drawings and then another hour trying to draw our own. It’s amazing how quickly you get alright at something with a bit of practise.

 

Martin: The best one was watching Three Billboards, but the one I’m most proud of is finishing the book Watching the English. It’s really fascinating and I discovered that I’m actually more english than austrian. Going to write a SCAB about it, so you know how I came to this conclusion.

 

Ah yes and my sister married, was nice too.

 

James: We had neighbour’s round for valentines day of all days and I ended up cooking. A number of dots collected.

 

Christian: my parents silver wedding, in the speeches that people gave, there were some really interesting things said.

 

Ben: I spoke with my eunuch friend Theo and it was an absolute hoot. It was a dot I had collected previously by talking to him online, but meeting in person and talking for four hours didn’t allow any awkward barriers to stay up. He was completely honest with me and likewise I was to him. Only thing I did wrong was go into his flat alone first time meeting him, my mum killed me.

 

Elliot: I went to an exhibition about Love on Valentines day. Some fantastic insights

 

Helena: I visited the old mine in our neighborhood, and spent a lot of time with old people which is always quite interesting.

 

Phil: I sat in a Burger King in Peckham for about 20 minutes today waiting to meet Joe. In that brief window of time I saw some of the most interesting people I’ve seen in London. A wonderful collection of people going about their business that made the ‘characters’ we’ve become accustomed to seeing on Brixton high-street look relatively dull.

 

Darius: Sao Jorge Castle is beautiful but a castle is not a dot. I wrote a poem that I can’t really tell anyone about. I don’t know if the two are related. I think the ‘best dot’ I collected was a series of small dots. In the right context, dots themselves are just thinks that link other things up, or leave you waiting for something else (like this one …). I think I spent a week working out inbetweens, in the hope that I could soften the feet of the things either side and also harden their cement as the I learned that when in between, when just a dot, you are only as good as the dots either side of you, and the more you look to your left and your right, the more vulnerable you are to the quick sand. Still, wasn’t too bad in the swamp. I can’t tell you about the poem because I left it in the swamp.

 

Twyla: I tried out flirting. It went well. Still need to work on some techniques though.

 

Holly: I went to Amsterdam! Tried my first ever VR headset. It was as if you were swinging through a church. Didn’t realise how real something can feel. Your brain tricks your body and it’s amazing.

 

Holly: I went to the Gursky exhibition at the Haywood Gallery. He is one of my favourite artists. Especially loved the 99 cents piece which has always been a favourite of mine and was a huge inspiration to me during my final year at uni.

 

Adeline: Went to the Stone Island shop. Funny how sale-assistants treat people differently depending on how much they think they’ll spend.

 

Susie: Like LOTS of other people in SCA and in London, I went to the Gursky exhibition. It was more than great for so many reasons. One being that after studying photography and only knowing him for his most famous images I was sooooo surprised to see the other work he has made. I also got to go home (West coast of Scotland) and I was reminded the world does not revolve around London for a lot of people.

 

Petra: I went to Tate Modern and saw the exhibition Red Star over Russia, that consisted of the graphic designer David King’s collection of propaganda posters from the October Revolution in 1917 up to Stalin’s death in 1953. It was really interesting to see how they used advertising and posters in contrast to the majestic paintings that was used by the Tsar regime.

 

Gary: In one week did 4 countries, 3 airports, took 9 trains, 3 busses, went to 4 restaurants, 6 pubs, 3 nights clubs. All with really high different social class standing people with different professional situations, different routines, different way of living. All different little bubbles that live on their own, with their peers or sometimes coexist among others bubbles and share some particularities with. But every bubble got his own dna, his own dictionary and his own goals. The most important is to be able to spot it, to establish the difference from one to another and to adopt the right language and tov to address to them. Being able to forestall them and to stun them by offering them something that is talking to them and getting along with the way they live. Something that will reinforce and highlighting their social situation. Something that they unconsciously expect and desire.

 

Joe: Not in half-term, but went to an anti-advertising / outdoor defacing talk. A lot of people really hate us, but not many people actually understand what we do. During half-term, I collected a few editorials of some screen printers I really like, picked up my sewing machine again, and saw the madest family portrait, which had been made into a tapestry. Hard to explain how incredible the last one is without seeing it.