When luggage dies

Dead luggage has really, um, died off over the past couple of years. That seems weird, when you think about it. It’s like we’re living in opposite world. In a normal world, you’d think that, at a time when nobody can travel, the streets would be filled with abandoned suitcases and wheelie bags. Why hang […]

When households die

There’s a house clearance going on down the street. Every weekend over the past few weeks, people have been in there sorting through stuff and, by Sunday evening, there’s a big pile of detritus stacked neatly in the laneway.

A dead potty

When potties die

A rare find, the abandoned potty – which begs the question, what does happen to all the old potties? Does everybody keep them, clinging to their first shit receptacle alongside Teddy and blankie, a memento of simpler, more innocent days? Perhaps they all go to landfill, helping to fill those big holes in the earth […]

A dead mattress

When mattresses die

To mark the milestone of the 50th dead thing, it’s time to tackle one the big ones: mattresses. Dead mattresses are everywhere. With the possible exception of televisions in the run-up to the digital switch-over, mattresses have been – and still are – the most widespread and frequent of laneway losses. The ones collected here […]

Another dead cooler

When coolers die

Nothing to see here. Move right along. Your interest will not be piqued. There will be no arousal of curiosity, nothing to make you wonder ‘Well, I never….’ Because what we have here is a box. And not just any old box – which might just possibly be slightly intriguing – but a box which […]

Dead carpet

When carpets die

Carpets are another of those non-rigid, non-boxy type discards which offer an infinity of possibilities. Rather like futons and bean bags, there is something beguilingly protean about dead carpets, to the extent that, at different times and in a certain light, they can truly be said to resemble something which has simply curled up and […]

A dead scratching post

When scratching posts die

An Abandoned Post Come home Susie. Don’t take your appetite, I might call it love Except cats don’t feel Love, just hot and cold Hunger and thirst, Such portable needs, Up and down the street Until they are met. Did I not please you? Even though you are My cat, I see you now Sitting […]

Another dead armchair

When armchairs die

There is an obvious synergy here with the sofa. They are Batman and Robin, C3PO and R2D2, Gilbert and George. In fact, many of these dead armchairs were found alongside their associated sofas (ah, that’s suite) and have been waiting to be featured here in all their glory as distinct, unique, albeit co-dependent, items. As […]

A dead bean bag

When bean bags die

Beans bags have the same organic quality as futons but are rather more sac-like in appearance. They tend to slump and sag as if on the verge of letting it all go. Even the ones stuffed tight enough to stand upright cannot escape that sense of impending collapse. They look as if they would be […]

Another dead teddy

When teddies die part 3

It’s time to do the right thing by these teddies and bring them together. Find a common ground for them; a teddy dump. A bear post. When I first encountered dead teddies three years ago, it was something of a shock. How could anybody do such a thing? Then it happened again and it was […]