Decentred centre. Regional hubnobbed, notquite heartland,
more ribcaged iron lung of the body politc; working protein;
a thigh muscle: hardly missioncritical, although would be missed.
Or else re-placed. Swath of brownsites, postswamped, timestubbed,
grassrooted and faraway from tua por: no bigshored rickshawed
downtown comehitherness here. No one to impress, this corner of
the 21st C, so everything smallcapped, missmelt, mixmetaphoric, free
of storyboarded skylines or selfieready shopfronts. No toilets
glazed with ads above the urinals advertising legacy watches&
and holidays by the seine. Still, michelinguided porridge purveyors
and famous fromelsewhere meepok claimants stall here,
not for brochure rights but rent and proximity to locyal tastebuddies
who brave the PIE for lunch, sleeves rolled and merces parked by the town
council next to the atm queue next to durian tout next to mobile repair&
next to pawnporn creditready lenders, remitters, resellers, headbowed
men and women loaded with fairprice bags. More tuition centres than toy stores.
Beautiful, necessary employment embanking drenched and empty playgrounds.
Dollars to be stretched and places to stretch them in. Home is where hope’s
affordable. Afternoons, coffeeshop voidsprawls enchair worktanned uncles
in checkered polos haranguing policy (safely offsite) over sips of kopi-c-siu-dai.
Ashfall soft on plastic tables. A son in dhaka squealing from a scarred phone screen.
The chickenrice auntie brisker and louder than presidents (having raised teens
and conquered cancer while hubby shagged shenzhen divorcees,
or so the tv soaps may script her), insisting on cheer and more chilli sauce.
Each chaw sharper than a good story, with no end in mind and no less love.
- 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