Using these records, we have managed to get in touch with some ex-pupils, and hear about old Knox,  and what their lives were like. We have also been able to look at things like money log books, and the different classes taught at the time – Latin anyone? 

If you know somebody that has attended Knox Academy, and may be interested in sharing some stories, or doing an interview then please reach out! We are particularly interested in hearing from older generations, their words might be a valuable addition to the Knox archive.

• Aubin Motion

To amend my summer concert rotation, I attended Lorde's summer session in Edinburgh, a night filled with performance, music and admiration for the amazing women on stage. The immediate atmosphere of the venue was amazing; filled with people. One of my personal favourite parts about any concert I go to is the creativity and admiration brought alive with fans' outfits; the simple pink and lacey style for Alessi Rose, bright sparkles and gems from Zara Larsson fans, dress ties and blazers for Audrey Hobert; and of course, anything with ribs on it for Lorde.

My continuous mission of getting barricaded at every concert was closely fulfilled, the stage being super close to me and my friends. Alessi rose is an uprising British pop star, and her presence was romantic; her dark vintage and feminine style presented through her stage graphics and outfit. Her music is some of my favourite, her soft expressions of romance and heartbreak all at once, and my favourite song of hers is “That Could Be Me”  

The second opener was Audrey Hobert; one of the newest faces in the pop scene. Her style is very unique in terms of how she performs, bringing out a trampoline making her set all the more enjoyable. I have listened to Audrey since she only had one song released, so to see all these people singing “sue me” together was so lovely to watch! 

The third opener was Zara Larsson; one of the hottest names in pop music currently. Zara brought such a positive energy to her set, she never stopped smiling and her set was a colourful combination of graphics, pink, bubbles, and nature. Her tradition of bringing someone from the crowd on stage was one of my favourite parts, and the genuine connection through the crowd when everyone knew the dance to “Lush Life” was so nice to see. Zara's powerful recognition for each one of her dancers through her dance break was another part of her set that I loved, taking the time to showcase each girl's name and abilities. After the long climactic wait of overpriced food and dying from dehydration, Lorde finally came on. I had seen Lorde before in Glasgow last year, so seeing her again was amazing. By the time her set started, it was dark, so the visuals and stage elements were even cooler. Lorde's set lists are always so full of every emotion, you could dance to “buzzcut season”, go crazy for “girl so confusing” and cry at “Liability”. 

My favourite visual was the projection of her younger self against her now, it was really captivating to watch. Her interactions with the crowd are something that I have always admired about her- as well as her reflection of her own home, and the gratefulness presented that shows her kind and down to earth attitude when performing. Something I loved is that the usual sea of phones seemed to disappear where I was standing when “Ribs” came on. “Ribs” is such an important song to me, so I don't remember much apart from lots of singing, but it's been me and my best friend's song for years and years, so getting to hear it with her again was lovely. 

The community built around these amazing girls- the automatic kindness presented by the people I was standing around, and the fanbases that understand the actual music on the same level as you makes me really recognise why their sound is so outstanding. 

All in all, this years summer sessions was a powerful recognition of women in the pop industry, a fun and lively experience that brought a mixture of people together to bond over the work and talent of these amazing girls!! 

• Millie Walker

The Cyclopes, for example, was a 60ft animatronic puppet, brought to life by  Bill Irwin, who also did work on Nolan's previous film Interstellar. Iwrin did the voices and noises for the Cyclops and choreographed the performance; pulling together the harrowing view of the one-eyed giant. This scene was recorded in Voidokila Beach, Peloponnese, Greece. The Cyclops’ cave is actually a real place, and all the scenes inside the cave were actually shot, in the damp, cold lair, instead of being done in a studio. 

In the scene with the man-eating giants (Laestrygones), they hired 7-foot tall stuntmen to play the giants, and to make him look bigger, a woman at around 4 feet 7 inches as Matt Damon's stunt double as well as using forced perspective. To bring life to the battle, Nolan used wirework to show Odssyeus’s men being thrown, and pulled by the Laestrygones. For this, the team travelled to Culbin Forest in Scotland. To create the home of the giants, in the ominous foggy pine trees. 

The home island to Odesseys and Telemachus is located in Italy. All of the interior of the castle was in Los Angeles, but the scenes on the hills were taken in the western coast of Italy. But because there was no access road to where they were shooting, and they couldn't get permission to build one, they used funicular lifts to carry things, and the cast and crew members had to walk to and from there during the two weeks of recording on the coast. 

Even the scenes in the water were recorded in real places. The scene where Odessey' s crew has to sail through siren inhabited waters, was filmed in the western coast of Lipari, in the waters of Pietra del Bango. 

We live in an age where CGI is so frequently used in films that the beauty of film making is taken for granted. Some films these days have so much CGI and special effects that it no longer feels like a piece of art, like it was something that proper effort and work was put into, where things went wrong but were then resolved with actual human trial and error, with experience. It’s when you watch films like this, you really appreciate the genius of human creation, and the hard work that goes into it.   

The thing is, when people actually put in the effort to be creative, and build and make their own sets and props, when people use animatronics, and perspective, it is rewarded so much more than when CGI is used. This is because nowadays we are so deprived of this type of creativity. Social media is filled with AI,  and filmmaking is 99% CGI. Films like the 2019 The Lion King – the whole thing is CGI. And of course it did take effort, it did take creativity, but it has no emotion, no passion, not nature. You can’t see the eyes glimmer, the fur doesn’t move naturally. But in films like Wes Anderson’s 2009 Fantastic Mr Fox,  you can see the animals' fur move where they have been touched, they look like they have lived, they look like they have been loved. Or in Jim Henson's 1986 Labyrinth where the creatures were sculpted with human hands, and created by someone who has dedicated their life to creating and sculpting, who has spent hours improving and learning their art.

• Aubin Motion

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

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