Oscar Keip’s Mathematical Workshop
When my thumbs were strong, I worked
them to the socket, hollowing
clay cradles for thought.
I turned curves sharper
than a rat’s spine, joined seams
fast as a practice kiss in the glass.Now they call me the ghost.
Each morning, I cough up plugs
of shining plaster. White dust
grains my skin, crusts eyelashes, sets
in little half-moon
parings beneath my nails.Ten years ago, Keip hooked me
from the field, landed me gasping
on his bench. I learnt to gulp
down chalk, swallow puzzles. Winding
through his grid, I was proud as an eel
doubled into its own knot.Back then we were in such demand,
our workshop rivalled Brill and Schilling’s.
A prospectus furnished, if desired,
gratis, to tease pennies
from tight fingers and pinched
university purses. Work is scarcer now,but the students still bring
their designs. Keip decides.
Lotte is the best but the others hate her
because she is a girl. Her strong
thighs against the bench
resist abstraction.Once I saw Pieter cry. He looked
right through me, crushed
her favourite piece beneath his boot,
choked on the rising dust.
The drains are blocked again.
I try to tell them, butmy throat is parched. Plaster
sets in a solid lump. Stops the flow
or slows it to a trickle, sucks
the pith from nerve and bone. My spine
fades. Light webs my fingers,
splits in the prism of translucent ribs.No-one hears me whisper how
once, when I pushed my hand
into clay, a white palm touched it,
stole my lifeline. Gave me
a thumb print in return
folded into infinity.
- 115: SPACE
with A Sometimes
114: NO THEME 13
with J Toledo & C Tse
113: INVISIBLE WALLS
with A Walker & D Disney
112: TREAT
with T Dearborn
111: BABY
with S Deo & L Ferney
110: POP!
with Z Frost & B Jessen
109: NO THEME 12
with C Maling & N Rhook
108: DEDICATION
with L Patterson & L Garcia-Dolnik
107: LIMINAL
with B Li
106: OPEN
with C Lowe & J Langdon
105: NO THEME 11
with E Grills & E Stewart
104: KIN
with E Shiosaki
103: AMBLE
with E Gomez and S Gory
102: GAME
with R Green and J Maxwell
101: NO THEME 10
with J Kinsella and J Leanne
100: BROWNFACE
with W S Dunn
99: SINGAPORE
with J Ip and A Pang
97 & 98: PROPAGANDA
with M Breeze and S Groth
96: NO THEME IX
with M Gill and J Thayil
95: EARTH
with M Takolander
94: BAYT
with Z Hashem Beck
93: PEACH
with L Van, G Mouratidis, L Toong
92: NO THEME VIII
with C Gaskin
91: MONSTER
with N Curnow
90: AFRICAN DIASPORA
with S Umar
89: DOMESTIC
with N Harkin
88: TRANSQUEER
with S Barnes and Q Eades
87: DIFFICULT
with O Schwartz & H Isemonger
86: NO THEME VII
with L Gorton
85: PHILIPPINES
with Mookie L and S Lua
84: SUBURBIA
with L Brown and N O'Reilly
83: MATHEMATICS
with F Hile
82: LAND
with J Stuart and J Gibian
81: NEW CARIBBEAN
with V Lucien
80: NO THEME VI
with J Beveridge
57.1: EKPHRASTIC
with C Atherton and P Hetherington
57: CONFESSION
with K Glastonbury
56: EXPLODE
with D Disney
55.1: DALIT / INDIGENOUS
with M Chakraborty and K MacCarter
55: FUTURE MACHINES
with Bella Li
54: NO THEME V
with F Wright and O Sakr
53.0: THE END
with P Brown
52.0: TOIL
with C Jenkins
51.1: UMAMI
with L Davies and Lifted Brow
51.0: TRANSTASMAN
with B Cassidy
50.0: NO THEME IV
with J Tranter
49.1: A BRITISH / IRISH
with M Hall and S Seita
49.0: OBSOLETE
with T Ryan
48.1: CANADA
with K MacCarter and S Rhodes
48.0: CONSTRAINT
with C Wakeling
47.0: COLLABORATION
with L Armand and H Lambert
46.1: MELBOURNE
with M Farrell
46.0: NO THEME III
with F Plunkett
45.0: SILENCE
with J Owen
44.0: GONDWANALAND
with D Motion
43.1: PUMPKIN
with K MacCarter
43.0: MASQUE
with A Vickery
42.0: NO THEME II
with G Ryan
41.1: RATBAGGERY
with D Hose
41.0: TRANSPACIFIC
with J Rowe and M Nardone
40.1: INDONESIA
with K MacCarter
40.0: INTERLOCUTOR
with L Hart
39.1: GIBBERBIRD
with S Gory
39.0: JACKPOT!
with S Wagan Watson
38.0: SYDNEY
with A Lorange
37.1: NEBRASKA
with S Whalen
37.0: NO THEME!
with A Wearne
36.0: ELECTRONICA
with J Jones