Author: C

A line written by performance poet Hector Aponysus for Dystopia Lives, “Looking for a vocation in the decline of civilization” sums up the state we find ourselves in.The incubation of Dystopia Lives saw Liam come together with Aponysus for a process Liam calls “the benefits of looking at where things are at but through different lenses”. The point to connect to the now and create bars of poetry that can be used to emphasise the collection’s intent. Style is always an attempt to find yourself and your people. Today the only maps that seem to make sense of our present reality come from dystopian fiction, illuminatingly the genre is rich with strong aesthetics.

Dystopia Lives is also a play on the Kuato Lives graffiti seen in Total Recall, and written in defiance of the Martian governor and in honour of Kuato, the psychic alien rebel hero in hiding. Thus Dystopia Lives can be read as signal of mutual understanding that darkness can be beat. The overwhelmingly streetcast show makes clear these are clothes designed for wearing by individuals not clones.