This image, by Cordite editor David Prater, shows the interior of the Austin Car manufacturing plant on Dudley Street, West Melbourne. The building is now used variously as a car park, second hand furniture warehouse, architects' offices (Six Degrees) and, downstairs, an artist's living space. The 109A project was conceived by Shannon Bufton, who writes: “The Ruskin Motor company had also used the building to manufacture body parts. Later on in its life it was used by the Commonwealth Department [of Administrative Services] to maintain its fleet of cars.” The car pictured may or may not be one of these sad old beasts.
About David Prater
David Prater is Cordite's managing editor. He holds a BA from the University of Sydney, an MA from the University of Melbourne and a PhD from Swinburne University of Technology. His first poetry colllection,
We Will Disappear, was published by papertiger media in 2007, and Vagabond Press published his chapbook
Morgenland in the same year. His poetry has appeared in a wide range of Australian and international journals, and he has performed his work at festivals in Australia, Japan, Bulgaria, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands and Macedonia. He has also undertaken two writers’ residencies in Seoul, Republic of Korea, and has worked extensively as a teacher, editor and researcher. He currently lives in Karlskrona, Sweden where he is undertaking post-doctoral research on electronic literature and pedagogy at Blekinge Tekniska Högskola.
Website:http://daveydreamnation.comFurther reading:
