winter 2013
LARD
Brita Loeb Fake Course Counts Brita Loeb An Emotional Poetic Adaptation of Oxy Confessions MEAT Samuel Wylie A Review of Justin Berner's "Review of Martha Abbott's Review of Gabe Mathew's 'Flake Generation'" Ben Tuthill Bath Salts Caitlin Harrington-Smith Invention of the Shower Justin Berner Blank Jacob Surpin Fishing for Fish TENDON The Rat Bastard Society Dan Scowley Arthur Modell Margaret Gallagher Zoë Butler Irene Wang Samuel Wylie Elise Hampilos Gabriel Mathews Irene Lam Julia Carrizosa Miriam Subbiah |
EXCESS
We’re tired. It’s December. You’re probably tired too. So instead of writing a real letter to all of you, we’re going to talk about the weather. We at THE FANG feel that talking about the weather has been unfairly assaulted. What affects us more than the weather? It’s December, and it’s get- ting colder, which in LA means that sometimes it hits 50 at night, and we’re tired. Which is fitting, because this issue’s theme is EXCESS. As in, too much. FANG QUEEN Elise Hampilos pitched doing a performance art piece based on sleeping in a bed made out of cake at our pre-release party to us, and we went from there. EXCESS, the online dictionary says, means “an amount of something that is more than neces- sary, permitted, or desirable,” or “lack of moderation in an activity, especially eating or drink- ing.” Which both sound negative. And certainly that side of EXCESS is plain to see. But we think there’s another side to EXCESS. Living beyond need, beyond what is permitted or desirable, with no moderation – these are things that also have their time and place. Or rather that ex- plode categories of time and place. THE FANG, as always, would like to thank all those who have submitted work for this mag. But in particular we’d like to thank the student artists who are published here: we think this is the best issue we’ve put out in terms of the quality of the art inside. Ben “The Best” Tuthill has been found. Both he and Jacob Surpin have stories about high school kids in urban areas in this issue, and his (“BATH SALTS”) makes Jacob’s story look like it’s about pre-schoolers. Oh, and Dan Crowley’s Unpopular Opinions are back. Almost forgot to mention that. Merry Christmas, cud-chewers. In phlegm, and bile, and bile, and blood, Jacob “The Boy Serpent” Surpin James “Calendar” Gallagher Zoe “Kant Reid” Butler Editors-in-Chief |
fall 2013
MEAT
translation by Eva Richter Who Has Ears, He Hears Justin Berner A Review of "Martha Abbott's Review of Gabe Mathews' 'Flake Generation'" Gabriel Mathews Lilies Dan Fineman "That That" –From the Grammarians Martha Ronk The voice must belong to someone Jacob Surpin Wanting Jacob Surpin Tube to London, Arrived from New York Justin Berner The Fang's Guide to Local Liquor Stores TENDON The Rat Bastard Society Anonymous Squirrel Zoë Butler Landon Koenig-Muenster Dylan Bos Eric Gullicksen Sam Jackson Ruby Paiva |
THE ETERNAL RETURN
Unless you’re a first-year, failed to read the first issue of THE FANG, or are a real-life aesthete, you probably picked up this second issue of THE FANG for one reason. And so, in the interest of full disclosure, we the editors must announce something before you read further: Dan Crow- ley is not in this issue. Nor are his weirdly popular unpopular opinions. He sent us a disconcerting diatribe while he was in South Africa this summer regarding the ethics of necrophilia that we didn’t really know what to do with. In his place we offer the advice of an anonymous 126-year-old squirrel. Still with us? Although none of you left even a single dollar in our donation box at our last release party, we return. Since then we’ve had mixed feelings towards you, our readership. We want to hate you but we can’t. THE FANG is less a labor of love than a labor for love. This here THE FANG’s theme is THE ETERNAL RETURN, which follows the summer’s RES- URRECTION. Why THE ETERNAL RETURN? Perhaps a few of you will think of Nietzsche. But we aren’t using it exactly like he meant it. Nietzsche is something that must be overcome. THE ETERNAL RETURN. Images and echoes of night into day into night again, of arriving in one place and finding it like another place, of telling the same endearing stories to your new love that you told to your old love, of returning to campus and finding it as you left it – except that the wood benches are now stained a Sedona red. THE FANG feels indebted to this edition’s contributors, particularly professors Dan Fineman and Martha Ronk for sharing their work. We have a healthy dose of black and white photogra- phy. Ben “The Best” Tuthill is not featured. Back to school, cud-chewers. In phlegm, and bile, and bile, and blood, Jacob “The Boy Serpent” Surpin James “Calendar” Gallagher Zoë “Kant Reid” Butler Martha “of Margaret” Abbott Editors-In-Chief |
summer 2013
Samuel Wylie
Another Bvlletin the Head Eva Richter A Genetic Peculiarity Ronald Wilson Reagan Love Sonnet to Thatcher Arthur A. Chester Stand By Alice Gabriel Mathews Flake Generation Martha Abbott Critique of "Flake Generation" C.E. Harrington-Smith The Invention of the Shelf Justin Berner & L. Koenig-Muenster A Drone Apart Jacob Surpin Because of What May Be There J. Delano, C. Wheatley-Schaller, & D. Sittig The Clubsters Tom Mirovski NeuroTrash Manifesto Benjamin Tuthill 12/17/12 Sarah Winters "Heaven If You Hear Me" Justin Berner The Spectacle of Coachella |
HARK! AN EDITORIAL EPISTLE:
YOUR FIRST TASTE DEAR CUD-CHEWERS, So here we are in our Sunday Best: drunk from Saturday. This is THE FANG. What is THE FANG? We are THE FANG. You are THE FANG. Veitch is THE FANG when he is not the Werepeacock. You know the one. We’ve been doing a lot of thinking, as you can tell. Some of it good, some of it bad. But, more or less, all publishable (Thanks ASOC!). You know, sometimes, we look around and think nobody cares anymore, but by picking this up. . .we know you care! We know you’re here with us. And that simple fact brings more joy to this heart(s) than a day spent in the sunshine. Allegedly, this issue is supposed to be built around the idea of Resurrection, though we may not have gotten the memo out in time. Not many things get Resurrected. Off the top of our head(s), I can think of only one human who’s been Resurrected in the past two millennia. And he was the Son of God! We’d like to think that this means that this here Resurrected THE FANG is about on His level. That is, the level of Jimmy Hoffa. Let’s take a break from self-indulgently spewing obtuse references and do some history. THE FANG was a satire rag published by Occidental students between the 40s and 60s, generally making fun of everything that got in its way. In reviving it this year, we hope to bring back some of that biting spirit, while also providing large amounts of paper for works of beauty and humour(s) by those around us.We think we’ve committed the perfect crime: we took something that probably should have stayed buried, brought it back, and made it more mediocre than ever! There was a phase when we thought this magazine would be only about ten pages long for lack of quality material. We’ve been pleasantly surprised. Arts literary and visual have come from all corners of the Occidental community, spanning alumni, administrators, decades, and levels of talent. Our main hope, for you, as the readers of this here THE FANG, is that you be entertained, inspired, and reminded that sometimes Occidental produces moderately decent things. And then, after having this series of wondrous emotions, we expect you to put it back on the shelf. THE FANG will, provided that ASOC chooses to fund us better in the future, become a quarterly publication beginning in the fall of 2013. This should excite you (but not too much) as you’ll have even more paper to throw away. In the meantime, this one is yours. Pass it around. Death to The Graphic. In phlegm, and bile, and bile, and blood, Justin “Back Right” Berner Landon “Beta Male” Koenig-Muenster Gabriel “The Bullshit” Mathews Ben “The Best” Tuthill Editors-In-Chief |