First, our best wishes go to Harry Glenister, a regular and extremely enthusiastic comper, whom we all hope will get better soon - entering from his sickbed, too. What commitment! £20 to the first two entries and £15 to the rest, except for J H Smith, who gets a £5 book token. In addition, the Tesco vouchers go to D A Prince, the overall winner.
Getting rid of old chewing gum
Through this medium we confront, on a daily basis, the reality of chaos theory - its randomness, its unpredictability, its infinite variety of patterning. No two encounters are alike, nor are they constant: each addition retextures the impersonal, imprinting informality and individuality on the routine and pedestrian. It replicates by analogy the insignificance of the downtrodden and discarded, those for whom life is flavourless, and who lie in metaphorical gutters. The result is youth's statement to an ageing world - haphazard, defiant, insouciant, but also stubbornly resilient. Will archaeologists read our civilisation's future in these apparently unstructured signifiers of transient populations? Those who drop chewing gum on city pavements perform a free act that deepens and enriches our spiritual understanding of society.
D A Prince
Picking one's nose
I'm not picking my nose - I'm exploring the mind/body dichotomy. For the production of nasal mucus of varying viscosity is accomplished without intervention from the self, a fact evinced by my continued fascination with the process. These emissions from my nose, and the organ itself, exist to anchor the soaring ambitions of the self to visceral materialistic reality. Not only does it pose the question of whether the nose itself has a cognisant self, but it causes me to speculate on how much improved our world would be if we devoted more attention to phenomena and less to the literally self-aggrandising strictures of etiquette.
Adrian Fry
Tearing the wings off butterflies
I tear the wings off butterflies. I do this because I once heard that the flutter of their tiny wings in one part of the globe can cause a ripple, which becomes a breeze, then a storm. Such a storm brought the rains that flooded my lovely riverside home. You can see what they are doing to destroy the world. My mission is to save it.
John Purkis
Spitting out gum in the street
His act is an expression of community, inviting others to participate. Where the different gum deposits meet they symbolise solidarity and faith in a world united by a finer form of viscosity. And it gives the poor street cleaner the chance to drive a fun machine in order to clean up the mess.
M E Ault
Taking without owner's consent
A teenager's guide to helping the community: first, reduce your town's carbon footprint by stealing cars and writing them off.
J H Smith
No 4001 There was a boy . . .
Set by Grace Elegy
It's poetry time. Inspired by Hilaire Belloc, we'd like some modern-day cautionary tales for computer-literate, txting children.
Entries in by 18 October
Email: comp@newstatesman.co.uk
