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Events of the Arts

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Oscar Wilde, What is Art?

Oscar Wilde's take on art and beauty. From his flowering, to his wilting, then to his legacy.

Oscar Wilde was a poet, novelist, and playwright. He is considered one of the most influential writers of the Victorian era for his philosophy on aestheticism, his charming stories and for his flamboyant, witty personality. He is regarded as a modern homosexual icon for the LGBTQ+ community.

Many of his greatest works were done in the last decade of his life. He received particular fame for his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, followed by multiple other successful pieces like, Lady Windermere’s Fan (1892), An Ideal Husband (1895), and his comedic masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest (1895).

It is well known that Wilde was an aestheticist– he believed that art exists purely for its own beauty rather than to serve political, moral, or didactic purposes. Wilde believed that authenticity was man's greatest honour, that people should live their own way, according to their own thoughts, desires and creative instincts. His belief that you should treat life as your own work of art is shown in his famous quote:

“One should either be a work of art, or wear a work of art,” reinstating his view that aesthetic grace and how you treat your life is the key to a meaningful existence.

Most of his important ideas were focused into The Picture of Dorian Gray, where the story surrounds the morals of life and beauty. Stating in the preface:

“Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these there is hope.”

It tells the story of an amoral gentleman named Lord Henry Wotton who takes a statuesque young man named Dorian Gray under his wing, and gives him insights into his philosophy on life. When an artist named Basil Hallward paints a portrait of Dorian, Dorian wishes that his portrait would bear the marks of time and his actions, while he himself would stay eternally young and beautiful. His wish was granted. Under Lord Wotton's influence, Dorian proceeds to live an immoral and selfish life, believing he is living the life of charm and beauty, while destroying himself. The only proof that he has aged is the portrait, becoming wrinkled and bloody – reflecting Dorian's sins and moral failings. Dorian chooses to never display the portrait and to keep it locked away, from prying eyes. He, a once innocent, charming, handsome gentleman, has now fallen to a man who cannot even look at his real face.

It is suspected that the three main characters in the book represent the different points of Oscar Wilde's aesthetic philosophy; Basil Hallward – the artist, the creator of beauty and life. Lord Henry – The theorist who talks and muses on aestheticism, but from an outside perspective, never acting on his ideas. Dorian Gray – The man who tries to live it all, for pleasure and beauty, but it eventually becomes his downfall.

After publishing, the book was criticised for its views, and the morals which it depicted. Wilde, on the other hand, insisted on the amoral nature of his art. Famously saying in the preface of the book, “There is no such thing as a moral or immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.” Stating that morality and art should be unrelated, and art is for art's sake. It does not need to teach any lesson of “good” or “bad”.

In the 1880s, when aestheticism was modish in London, Wilde rooted himself in social and creative circles, with his flamboyance and witty charm, making him a popular and well liked individual amongst London's cultural elites. Later, he went to America in 1882 to give lectures on love, beauty and art, and was one of the first people to be considered a celebrity.

In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, however in 1891, he began a passionate and destructive love affair with the young poet Lord Alfred Douglas (“Bosie”, as Wilde called him). Eventually Douglas' father, the Marquess of Queensberry, accused Wilde of homosexuality (which was illegal at the time). Wilde sued him for libel. But the trial backfired, unfortunately his wit and arrogance, although popular with the public, didn’t sit well with the court. This was also one of the first cases for a writer to have their works used against them as evidence in court; including many passages from The Picture of Dorian Gray. In his theories of aestheticism Wilde had argued that art had no morality, but the court used this to their advantage saying that it was proof to his “immoral” real-life desires, and unfortunately his belief that life should be treated as an art piece is exactly what Victorian society used to destroy him.

Wilde was arrested and found guilty of “gross indecency”. He was sentenced to two years of hard labor, serving most of it at Reading Gaol between the years 1895 and 1897. In prison he wrote some of his final pieces; De Profundis and The Ballad of Reading Gaol, the latter he wrote in France during his exile. He spent his final years in an impoverished state, both financially and physically. He died in Paris from meningitis on the 30th of November, 1900 at the age of forty six. His last words were thought to be:

“My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go.”

Even on his deathbed his legendary wit remains.

Though his life may have ended, his ideas and philosophy abide and continue to influence literature today. Oscar Wilde remains a literary icon. His practice of aestheticism, his works, and his tragic downfall still fascinate people at all English levels. His writings are celebrated, studied and are important documents of Wilde's ideas, philosophy and wit.

Aubin Motion

LGBQ+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer!

There are so many amazing tv shows featuring the large umbrella of love and identity, here is a list of some highly recommended queer movies and tv shows suitable for teens to watch and enjoy this summer!

PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: A great teen murder mystery drama. If you are looking for a long action packed 2000s TV show, then Pretty Little Liars might be a good watch for you!

BUT I'M A CHEERLEADER: Available to watch on Prime Video; a great, very funny, easy to watch, coming of age romance-comedy.

HEARTSTOPPER: A well known classic LGBTQ+ bingeable TV show drama, loved by many and highly addictive.

TRINKETS: A fun TV show about a shopaholic, featuring the many feelings that come along with grief.

EVERYTHING SUCKS: A fun, enjoyable comedy-drama series set in the 90s!

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE: A mystery/horror TV show set in a spooky old house, perfect for any scary-show lovers.

YOUNG ROYALS: A teen drama series about a gay prince!

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY: A well loved American, superhero, comedy drama.

JULIE AND THE PHANTOMS: A magical musical drama TV series enjoyed by many!

SO MY GRANDMAS A LESBIAN: A fun Spanish comedy movie, perfect for those learning Spanish but you could always read English subtitles!

Delilah Brady

Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino: An Underrated Masterpiece

You may have heard of the band “Arctic Monkeys”. You may not listen to them, but the name might ring a bell. Arctic Monkeys is an alternative rock band originating from Sheffield, England. The band consists of four members: front man Alex Turner, drummer Matt Helders, lead guitarist Jamie Cook, and bassist Nick O’Mally. They are widely known for their two record breaking albums; AM and Whatever People Say I am That's What I’m Not. They have won a total of seven Brit Awards, putting the band with the fifth most Brit Awards ever. Four years after AM they released their sixth studio album: Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino and things took a turn…

Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino, (TBHC) was like nothing the band had ever done before; It was jazzy and messy in a romantic way. The band was no longer Rock and Roll Turner: slick back hair, black leather jackets, popped collars, and catchy guitar riffs. No, this was something else. This new album was not popular. People just couldn’t get around the new sound, it felt like nonsense. Even when I first tried to listen to the album, I found it confusing and weird and I turned the stereo off. A couple of months later I tried listening to it again, this is when I realised this album is a masterpiece. And when you look deeper you realise that this album is imperfectly perfect.

With the new look and new lyricism also came new instruments and playing style. Before, the Arctic Monkeys had written all of their albums on guitar, and used quite traditional rock instruments. But TBHC was actually their first album written on the piano. This album was also one of the first times they had incorporated synthesizers, farfisa’s, an organ, and wurlitzer’s into their songs. Giving them a sci-fi jazz type of feel. The songs also had a much slower tempo and were less drum oriented compared to previous tracks. The guitars had all become much more rhythmic, while still having some guitar solos, in songs like: One Point Perspective, Science Fiction, and The Ultracheese. As well as the bass in this album being a lot heavier, becoming quite a bass driven album. Of course the piano is still the star of the show, but the bass gives it that extra lounge-piano feel.

Tranquility Base Hotel And Casino: Come and take it easy for a little while. At a Lunar hotel, where aging rock stars and high-class elites can find sanctuary. But things are not well on the Moon, nor on our home planet: Earth. It is implied that some sort of apocalypse is going on, the “Shining city on the fritz” and the “Chimes of freedom are falling to bits.” Even the political stance is rocky, in which the leader of the free world reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight, golden trunks, And politicians in general are nothing but usable liars. So TBHC has become an escape, now you can stare back down to earth and ponder on the questions of the universe with the only limitation being your own train of thought.

A big thing that TBHC talks about is social problems, which initially you probably wouldn’t think, but the unexpected is an Arctic Monkeys specialty. I mean, they created a whole album about it (Suck It And See). “Love came in a bottle with a twist off cap” this lyric is from the first tune on the album, Star Treatment. The lyric comments on how disposable love has become, referring to it as something that you can just put in an easily openable bottle. And it is losing its value. It is no longer a deep, special feeling. But something you can give or take without any hassle. Talking about modern dating and love, which feels so temporary and artificial, with a less emotional connection.

“The leader of the free world reminds you of a wrestler wearing tight golden trunks”. Here, in Golden Trunks Turner is slightly poking fun at the leaders of modern society (eg. Donald Trump), calling them irritable and stupid looking. He is saying that they are not leaders, nor are they people to look up to for guidance and as peacekeepers, but people who fight for the sake of fighting while not actually solving any major issues. Turner talks about the political state again in One Point Perspective: “Dancing in my underpants, I’m gonna run for government” This points out that anyone can become in charge of the government, and it doesn't matter how mad you are, or the bad things you have done. He is saying that the leaders of the world are causing more problems than fixing them, they are trying to fix war and pain with war and pain.

Turner explores emotions of disconnected isolation, where everything feels surreal and slightly satirical. Even having the ‘Hotel’ on the ‘Moon’ is a metaphor for feeling disconnected and isolated from the rest of the world. The feeling of disconnection is looked at with lyrics such as “I lost the money, lost the keys, but I’m still handcuffed to the brief case.” Depicting someone who still feels tied to something they're not a part of anymore, and they are always thinking about it, constantly reminding themselves, and going to ‘Tranquility Base’ is a form of self-inflicted exile.

Isolation is heavily represented in the song The Ultracheese. Opening with: “Still got pictures of friends on the wall / I suppose we aren't really friends anymore”, showing feelings of longing for the past, as well as reflection of what has already happened and missing what you had. The song also points out how they feel disconnected from what’s going on now, too stuck thinking about what has already happened and aren't focused on the moment, demonstrated in the next line: “Get freaked out from a knock at the door When I haven't been expecting one”.

Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino got some pretty mixed reviews, from both critics and the fans. I have heard many people call it their favourite album, but I’ve also heard people describe it as “Elevator music”. Though the critics replied well, with an average rating of 4 stars. The people had conflicting feelings. To be fair, I can understand where they’re coming from. The album is difficult to get into. You have to actually think about what he is saying for it to make sense. And it was probably quite hard for people who had gotten used to their old sound to adjust to the new one. A reason people didn’t enjoy the album was because it didn’t feel like the Arctic Monkeys as a whole, it felt more like Alex Turner + Band. I can relate to this feeling, but I believe that the album was originally supposed to be for Alex Turner's solo career, but the rest of the band decided that they liked the idea and wanted to take part.

The overall reason I think TBHC is such an amazing art piece is because it has created a fictional place that tackles and addresses real emotions and problems, talking about people and what society has become, and uses smart, but subtle metaphors to talk about modern issues while also highlighting the beauty of the human condition.

Aubin Motion

New ‘We Will Rock You’ play at Knox!

Lights, music, and performance! That’s what the audience mainly focuses on within a show, but what happens behind the scenes? How do the actors and actresses feel? We'll be interviewing and discussing the show with a couple of actors and learn about their opinion on theatre.

Our first interview is with Lucian Kapasi - who’s playing the role of Khashoggi - to share his views so far on the show!

Q: If you could star in any movie, which movie would it be, and which character?

A: I would quite like to be Darth Vader from Star Wars.

Q: Do you like the role you have? Is there anything you would change about it?

A: I like the role I have, I don’t think I would change it.

Q: Do you enjoy music or dance? Do you play any instruments?

A: Yeah, I enjoy it. I’ve played the trombone for about five months.

Q: What do you think of Queen? Do you have any specific songs you like?

A: I like Queen, but there's not really any songs that I would call my favourite out of theirs.

Q: Do you plan to do more acting in the future?

A: I don’t think I will continue acting after this, but I've really enjoyed the opportunity.

Thank you very much Lucian for letting us interview you.

We also interviewed Samuel - who’s playing one of the Bohemians - to tell us about his experience!

Q: What has been your favourite part of being in this show?

A: For the most, just hanging out with the other cast members and getting to know new people.

Q: What made you want to audition for the play?

A: I actually didn’t, Lucian (Khashoggi) asked me to join for a lesser part! Which I of course accepted.

Q: Do you specifically like the band Queen, and did that influence your choice to audition?

A: It’s not really my music taste, but I’ve been listening to them repeatedly to learn the lyrics for the play.

Q: What has it been like overall to be in the show?

A: I’ve only been rehearsing for a couple weeks, and I already love it! I would recommend it highly!

Q: Do you plan to continue performing after this?

A: Absolutely, I’m planning to audition for the next show, and might even pursue an acting career, haven’t quite made up my mind yet.

Q: If you could've been any other role, who would you have auditioned for?

A: Probably Oz, or one of the bohemians.

We are all excited to see how the show turns out, and to witness it in its full glory!

The school show of ‘We Will Rock You’ will be at Knox from the 3 June until 5 June! For further updates, please keep checking the school news website and until then keep ‘havin’ a good time’.

Co-written by Aubin Motion, Issy McGonigle, and Lexie Campbell

Project Hail Mary

The other day I watched the newly released movie ‘Project Hail Mary’ starring Ryan Gosling as Grace and James Ortiz as Rocky. This movie is like a combination of interstellar (10/10 movie as well) and E.T. It already has a 95% rating on rotten tomatoes and a 4.8/5 stars on the popcornmeter. Some people are already considering it to be on par to Interstellar, The Martian, Arrival and Gravity.

I really enjoyed this movie; they created some beautiful scenes that really made you connect with the character and feel as if you are experiencing everything with them. Originally Rocky's voice was going to be added later on but as Ryan and James were working they started riffing off each other and James ended up creating most of Rocky's lines.

Grace is a relatable character that everyone can sympathise with and connect with.

Grace being alone in the ship for so long and then finding a companion really moves the viewer and makes us feel genuine emotions for him.

Ryan Gosling's acting was impeccable in this movie, and I can usually see when someone is acting but this felt so incredibly real. I kind of couldn't believe it.

For me this movie was a 10/10 and I will definitely be re-watching it as many times as possible. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone!

Elle Davies

Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival

Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival returns to the National Museum of Scotland on Saturday 11th of April!

Edinburgh is hosting this film festival as a part of the Edinburgh science festival, taking place during April. The Edinburgh Conservation Film Festival is a celebration of conservation stories from around the world that will inspire, engage, and inform you about some of the many projects helping to protect the world's biodiversity, in Scotland and around the globe.

Come and discover some of the many projects and people who are helping preserve global biodiversity. The films will be followed by a panel discussion about the role storytelling plays in inspiring environmental restoration and protection, and a prize-giving ceremony for the winning films.

Delilah Brady

The 98th Annual Oscars - All you need to know!

On Sunday 15th March 2026, many people gathered at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles to celebrate the 98th annual Oscars ceremony, a night of recognition and celebration for all of the big films, rising actors and production elements that make the world of film possible of the year.

What are the Oscars?

The Academy Awards, or better known as The Oscars, are an annual awards ceremony for artistic and technical merit in film. Many films, actors, film score, film designers and more can be nominated in categories like “Best actor/actress”, “Music”, “Production Design” and “Casting”. The lucky winners of the award for each category are decided by 10,000 Academy members and the winner for a certain category is only chosen by people of that category, e.g only actors vote for best actor, with an exception for best picture, which is voted for by everyone.

Who hosted the Oscars this year?

The 98th annual Oscars were hosted by American Television host Conan O’Brien, well known for Saturday Night Live (SNL), The Simpsons, and The Conan O’Brien Show. O’Brien also hosted the 97th Oscars last year, making it his second year in a row where he has hosted the much loved ceremony.

What are the categories and who won?

For the 98th year of Oscars, there are 24 categories varying from “Actor in a supporting role” to “Writing (original screenplay)”, but what other categories are there and who was the lucky winner within each category?

Best picture

One Battle After Another

Actor in a leading role

Michael B. Jordan in Sinners

Actor in a supporting role

Sean Penn in One Battle After Another

Actress in a leading role

Jessie Buckley in Hamnet

Actress in a supporting role

Amy Madigan in Weapon

Animated feature film

K Pop Demon Hunter

Are Ballet and Opera still alive?

On the 21st February, actor, Timothée Chalamet (who was nominated for ‘best actor’ for his role as Marty Mauser in the 2025 film Marty Supreme - which was also nominated for 8 other Oscars) was in an interview where he touched on the future of film and theatre, where he said “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera you know, or things where it’s like ‘Hey, keep this thing alive’ even though it’s like no one cares about this anymore.”

The clip went viral on social media with much backlash towards Chalamet with the performing arts community defending the much loved elements of theatre with many people pointing out the irony of the comment as Chalamet has had multiple of his own family members work in the performing arts industry, with his mother and sister both being former ballerinas and his grandmother a former broadway dancer.

Close to a month after the interview and 1 week after that clip started circulating social media, Timothée Chalamet lost his Oscar nomination for best actor in Marty Supreme to Michael B. Jordan for his role of twins, Smoke and Stack in Sinners and the other 8 oscars that Marty Supreme was nominated for had also lost to the other nominees. People have said that this was karma for his comment that dismissed two large elements of the performing arts industry which are still alive, popular and still thriving to this very day.

K Pop Demon Hunters

The growing in popularity animated film K Pop Demon Hunters won both oscars that it was nominated for in the categories of Best Animated film where it won over Disney and Pixar films Zootropolis 2 and Elio and also Best Original Song, in which Golden, took the win.

The hit song from the film “Golden”, that won the Oscar for Best Original Song was also performed at the ceremony by Kim Eun-jae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami.

Moulin Rouge! Reunion

The stars of the 2001 hit film “Moulin Rouge!”Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor reunited after 25 years as they presented the award of the Best Picture to One Battle after Another while also singing a section of their cover “Love Song Meledy”.

The two actors played the star crossed lovers, Christian and Satine in the 2001 film which followed the story of Christian, a young English songwriter who moved to Montmartre, France and was in the process of writing a play to be performed at the world renowned Moulin Rouge and he began to fall in love with the showgirl, Satine. The problem was that their love was doomed from the start as Satine was betrothed to the Duke de Monroth who was funding the Moulin Rouge and Christians show, so should they give up on the show for love or repress their strong feelings for each other for the sake of the show? In the 2002 Oscars, Moulin Rouge! had a whopping eight nominations and won two Oscars; Best Costume Design and Best Production design!

It’s a tie?!

Believe it or not, it is possible for a tie to happen at the Oscars, but it is very rare; but not for this year's ceremony. For the first time in 13 years, where at the 85th Oscars in 2013 Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty tied for Sound Editing, a tie happened at the award ceremony this year, where both ‘The Singers’ and ‘Two People Exchanging Saliva’ both won as the winner for Live Action Short Film. As of this recent tie, there has now only been seven in Oscars history! All of the times that those seven ties happened were in 1932 with Fredrick March and Wallace Beery for best actor (but apparently it turned out that it was one vote off from a tie so after that, they declared it would only be counted as a tie if they received the exact same amount of votes.), 1950 with So much for so little and A chance to live for Best Documentary Short, 1969 with Barbara Streisand and Katharine Hepburn for Best Actress, 1987 with Artie Shaw: Time is all you’ve got and Down and out in America for Best documentary feature, 1995 with Franz Kafka’s It’s a wonderful life and Trevor for Best live action short, 2013 with Skyfall and Zero Dark Thirty for Best Sound Editing and most recently in 2026 with The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva for Live Action Short Film

Who has the most nominations and wins for this year?

It is common for bif films to receive multiple nominations and wins. This year, Sinners starring Michael B. Jordan has broken Oscar records by earning 16 nominations in total and 4 wins! Sinners has beaten the record of most nominations set by the 1997 film Titanic starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio which received 14 nominations and won 11 awards at the 70th Annual Oscars in 1998. Although Sinners was nominated for the most Oscars, the film which won the most awards this year was One Battle After Another starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn which ended up winning 6 out of 13 nominations.

As you can see, there have been many memorable moments at The Oscars this year and many wonderful awards handed out to recognise hard work, dedication and talent! A huge congrats to everyone who won awards and all the backstage crew, as well as all of the people who made the awards ceremony possible, as there are so many elements that go towards hosting such a big award show like The Oscars which wouldn’t be possible without their work.

Lily Darling

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