Cover: Shirley Tse’s Quack heard around the world #1.  Of this image she said it was “only a simulation of the actual situation”. “An incident in 1992 gives us a perfect example of the paradox of artificiality: a freak ocean storm washed a container off a freighter in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, releasing 29,000 plastic bathtub toys being shipped from Hong Kong to Tacoma, Washington. Over the next year, thousands of blue turtles, red beavers, yellow ducks and green frogs washed up on the Alaska coast, giving oceanographers a great deal of data on North Pacific winds and currents. The marine research community dubbed this incident ‘the quack heard around the world’ and used it to update their computer models of the ocean.” This image was used as illustration to “Post-colonial Mutation and Artificiality  Hong Kong, a case study”, a slide lecture for the all-nighter Chance Conference organised by Chris Kraus at Whiskey Pete’s casino in Primm, Nevada, 1996. Poster: Kate Newby of Kate’s House of Fashion presents her new perfume FEELINGS to the world. Many feel that she is living proof that youth is not always wasted on the young. Back cover: David Hatcher’sThe Simplest Act.

Hellrig holiday.

Sylvère Lotringer tells Leo Edelstein about the Semiotext(e) publication Hatred of Capitalism.

Michael Harrison’s prophetic All things must fall.

Matthew Hyland visibly bugs out laterally on things such as Moscow to the end of the line.

Angelique Kasmara points out some things about Saddam Hussein that I bet you never knew.

Herewith Transpresence by Cameron Bain.

From the Paul Johns archive.

Giovanni Intra on leaving New Zealand’s vegetarianism behind.

Sean O’Reilly’s Letter to a Faraway Friend.

Shay Launder’s “cat and the bramble bush”.

Layla Rudneva-Mackay with Instructions for Making a Towel Penis.

Ben Harper is getting sleepier and sleepier.

Max Reeves’ London 2000 photographs  he is getting creepier.

Albert Refiti interprets Samoan church architecture.

Charlotte Craw found these lost speeches.

Liz Mathews’ comic adventure “Beware the x-ray glasses”

Brian McCormick unravels X in a TV stylee.

Dylan Rainforth’s Close-up Nebulae: The Melting Pot (toothpaste and coffee).

Luke Stemson’s tribute to the painter on Sesame St.

Feature reviews:

• Geoff Lowe on Paola Pivi.
• caleb k. on expatriotism, the drone brain, and why he thinks there is no experimental music in NZ.
• James Lynch on art censorship in LA.
• Zita Joyce’s account of an experimental visit to an abandoned eastern-bloc military installation.
• Mei-ling Sei’s response to the Auckland Zizek-fest.
• Emma Bugden on her ex, Dan Arps’ recent work.

Owen Kahl with some interesting spiritual information about computers.

Chris Barker also set a prophetic image  this one executed before 9/11.

Art history

• Alice Hutchison on Allen Maddox, NZ X painter extraordinaire.

Roundups:

• Dylan Rainforth from Auckland;
• DJ Huppatz from Hong Kong;
• Chris Chapman from Sydney;
• Tessa Laird from Los Angeles;
• Andrew Wood from Christchurch;
• Doug Kelaher et al from Dunedin;
• Anna Daly from Melbourne;
• Lissa Mitchell and BS Thompson from Wellington.
• Darian Zam is as chic as an Australian can be. xxxx.

The Physics Room pages:

• Zita Joyce on Phonic;
• Robyn Stoney on Susan Jowsey’s Flutter.

Special web contents:

• Millennium Twain was a New Zealand resident, and a very interesting one at that, who has recently been required to return to the USA, not that he wanted to go at all. While he was here, he continued his campaign to promote the viability of self-directed space travel. Read some of his thoughts on the matter and see pictures of many proposed spacecraft by a variety of enthusiasts.
• More from Chris Chapman
• An email sent out by theorist Slavoj Zizek in direct response to the events of September 11.