Acrylic on Canvas44in X 44in
Competitive Feasting
An Essay I wrote in John Bodley's Anthropology course at WSU circa 2003
World problems such as poverty, hunger, and environmental degradation are the result of growth and culture scale increases whereby material benefits are concentrated to a few elite groups while socializing the costs to the majority of people. Many political, economic and non-governmental organizations try to address these problems in their own way based on the consensus of its members. Whether the solution is ideological, technological, material, or organizational, these ideas are not readily suited to meet the needs of the poor, hungry, or nature itself. In order to maintain a culture, whether it is in the domestic, political, or global realm, the subsistence of that culture must not sacrifice the modes of subsistence of future generations. That means protecting the livelihood, biology and environment of these future generations. Policies designed for sustainable development by political or economic elites many times serve the needs of the elite capitalists, rulers, and financiers.
One approach is that we observe subsistence and organizational patterns of domestic or political scale cultures which has proven successful through the test of time. I suggest that the concept of competitive feasting as a model will help people realize a sustainable future in the domestic, political, and global scale worlds. The idea is that accumulated wealth from a particular individual is redistributed back into the community in a social atmosphere. This practice also allows individuals who enjoy a significant level of material wealth to gain social approval. Competitive feasting also allows groups of people to reassess the source of food as well as efficiency of subsistence. This concept will be looked at in terms of how it can affect all three cultural worlds while separately addressing the issues concerning hunger, poverty, and environmental degradation. Rather than being a solution to such problems, competitive feasting will enable us to test a culture’s methods of sustainability.
Hunger is the result of many things. It can be the result of unequal distribution patterns, poor diet diversity, natural disasters, or maladaptive food production methods. Hunger is characterized as detrimental to the nutritional well-being of a person which may result in vitamin or mineral deficiency causing disease or even death. Feasting is characterized by organized mass consumption by large groups of people. The quality of feasting can vary from tribal feasting, to agrarian harvest rituals, and even college keg parties. First, such feasting requires that there is a surplus of food to begin with. Many argue that there is an abundance of food today but that it is controlled by a disproportionately few people with political and financial control over modes of production. Hosting a feast is an opportunity for both the multi-national financier as well as the domestic hunter-gatherer to gain social status. In the commercial world a feast might be in the form of a free barbecue of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, and soda pop in a grocery store parking lot. This is what happens in Pullman, WA every summer at Dissmore’s. The case can be made that the nutritional value of such a feast is inferior to say a feast provided by a village chief comprised of traditional foods. The major difference is that the Dissmore’s barbecue has no competition on the same scale so that the people that attend have nowhere else to go for such a feast in the town of Pullman during the summer months when businesses slow to a crawl when a majority of the students leave town until the fall. While there is no data on how much food is distributed and how many attendees represent the town of Pullman, personal observations recall that the numbers of people easily reach the hundreds which is close to the optimal size of sociability at 500 persons. This is the size of a group of people which can be sustained without formal leaders, and advances in communication and technology (Bodley 2003: 87). This is important to maintain an egalitarian social environment with relatively small numbers of feasting guests. This prevents the need for a beauracracy of feast providers, organizers and administrators which would turn the concept of competitive feasting into a resource extractive event much like restaurant businesses whereby the livelihood of the hosts depends solely on the presence and appetite of the guests.
Poverty is a relative concept, the Malthusian concept of poverty incorporates “misery” by which a given population or person is barely meeting their minimum subsistence (Bodley 2001: 96). Depending on what cultural scale a person lives in poverty can be measured by material possessions, access of necessary resources, or levels of income among others. Competitive feasting has the potential for easing impoverished conditions because it requires a surplus of goods in order to function. In the case of a war or drought stricken areas where modes of subsistence has been obliterated or disrupted, special circumstances must be made in order for competitive feasting to be successful. First the community must organize and combine efforts to procure food, shelter, and clothing. A social gathering such as a feast, no matter how meager, provides great opportunity for people to share information to rebuild subsistence levels, and transmit methods of survival and holistic healthcare. A successful food producer may distribute surplus foods as gifts in order to exact labor from his personal network of kin and community members (Pottier 1999: 73). The host, who must be relatively wealthy to afford to feed a number of guests, has the opportunity to maintain his social standing in the community. The social gathering provides a face to face arena for members to test the leadership abilities of the host. If feasting is comprised of truckloads of mushy slop from charitable organizations then it would not be a feast if it isn’t shared. Feasting must be competitive so that the redistribution of surplus food is not used as a coercive tool on the impoverished. Individuals who have accumulated enough surplus could have an equal advantage in sharing social authority. The extreme concentration of accumulated goods by a few people on a global scale definitely poses a problem to competitive feasting but that does not mean that the impoverished must be completely reliant on such elite members. The concept of giving away wealth as part of a sustainable economy is best described by David Orr, “When wealth is no longer regarded as a gift to be passed from person to person, then and only then does scarcity appear” (Orr 2002: 11).
Environmental degradation can be eased through successful competitive feasting. In the contemporary case of college parties, a keg has proven to be more economical than beer cans or bottles. The energy required to recycle cans and bottles is much more than cleaning and refilling a keg. With the exception of plastic keg cups which can be substituted with more permanent personal containers, waste can be greatly minimized. Another example is Thanksgiving dinner in the U.S. While this is a cultural event which happens on a domestic scale, feeding 500 people has some advantages. The cooking can all be done in one place thereby reducing the amount of energy that would normally run 50 or so households. Culinary inclined members would bring more knowledge of efficient and nutritional cooking methods. The waste from prepackaged foods would also be reduced. If competitive feasting becomes a regular occurrence then hosts must increasingly find more efficient ways to feed their guests. If feasting is to be done in a sedentary environment, it would greatly reduce the damage caused by transportation of packaged and exotic foods to restaurants and markets around the world.
Competitive feasting in the contemporary world may be considered utopian. It relies on the good will of the elites to share their accumulated wealth. However, feasting is not impossible for less fortunate members of a given society. The amount of people who participate will vary depending on the household’s ability to provide enough to eat. Competitive feasting also requires some level of shared responsibility and work. This should empower more people to become more intimately involved with their community’s subsistence. Some of the problems that competitive feasting cannot address are those such as acts of violence. The point is that competitive feasting allows members of society to be directly involved in their social organization. Any goods or services that are distributed in a feast can come from one individual’s personal imperia or several voluntary members. The competition aspect of feasting would allow the chance for hosts to reorganize the processes in order to maintain their patronage from other hosts. The next step in researching the possible application of competitive feasting is to observe it in different levels of society from tribal ceremonies such as Native American Pow-Wows to American elite charity balls. If competitive feasting can cut across social stratifications it can bring about very unique changes in culture whether it is material, social or ideological. It may disempower some elite members and encourage them to join in the festivities. Within my own personal imperia I have experimented with feasting. Feeding friends and strangers alike help to reduce the burden of maintaining subsistence, where I can exact some sort of return in the form of tools, food, materials, or social support. Within the economics of reciprocal exchange, competitive feasting allows assertive individuals to reach more people to exact material or social resources on a small and manageable scale.
Works Cited:
Bodley, John H. 2001. Anthropology and Contemporary Human Problems. 4th Ed.
Mountainview, California: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Bodley, John H. 2003. The Power of Scale: A Global History Approach. Armonk, New
York: M. E. Sharpe Inc.
Orr, David W. 2002. The Nature of Design: Ecology, Culture, and Human Intention.
New York, New York: Oxford University Press.
Pottier, Johan 1999. Anthropology of Food: The Social Dynamics of Food Security.
Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
Typhoon Bank
Salt Glazed Ceramic w/ Black & White Slip8in tall x 5.75in diameter
video clip in the round
Bai-ra-Irrai: Architecture of Belau
I was going through some of my old files of papers I wrote while in college. Here is one that I wrote around 2004 in Dr. Carol Ivory's course on Arts of the Pacific.
Micronesian architecture comes in different shapes, sizes and styles. Considering the extremely limited resources available from island to island, it is a testament as to how the efficiency of some cultures can produce some of the most unique forms of architectural spaces. Throughout the Pacific, there are many structures that employ various designs, technology and utility. One particular architectural form is a men’s meetinghouse developed in the low lying archipelago of Belau in Southwestern Micronesia. The bai, as it is referred to in Belau, is one of the longest lasting physical specimens of traditional Belauan culture. This paper will examine the Bai-ra-Irrai as a representation of social and political organization, material culture, as well as insight into Belauan metaphysical knowledge.
There are two types of bai, the Bai-ra-Irrai is one used as a meeting house of chiefly heads of the village known as rubakbai, the other type is known as the men’s clubhouses. The bai themselves are somewhat similar but the rubakbai is usually of more superior materials as well as craftsmanship. It has been estimated that at least a hundred bai existed on Belau at the beginning of the 20th century. (Belau Natl. Museum, sec.3, par.1). The Bai-ra-Irrai was once a significant center of village life in a well stratified and political society of Irrai, a village on the southern end on the island of Babeldoab. The stone platform site it was built on has been there for at least 300 years . Today bai building has been through decline in Belau because of foreign administration and ravages of WWII has disrupted traditional Belauan culture. The institutions that required and maintained such facilities have been altered (Morgan, 20). The bai of the Koror Community Center was built at the encouragement of American administrators after WWII (Barnet, 36). The bai at the Belau National Museum was originally built in 1969 was destroyed in a fire several years later then rebuilt in 1991 (Belau Natl. Museum, sec 2, par 1).
The Bai-ra-Irrai is an elevated structure assembled on a platform above a stone aggregate platform. The bai is constructed by fitting of individual pieces of wood and sections without the use of nails, pegs or screws. This technique is also known as the mortis and tenon joint. The knowledge of its construction is credited to the tabalkai or a master builder. The bai is usually contracted out to another village who will deliver the bai to be assembled at the village who appealed for it. The tabalkai first presents the plans for the bai to the forest to ask permission from the spirits who inhabit the trees selected for construction. As part of his ritual the tabalkai is responsible for delivering the first chop on the tree to be felled to initiate the construction process. Each section of the bai is prepared by separate groups which are orchestrated by the tabalkai who ensures that each piece and section fits properly (Ferreira, 65). This whole process is usually done near the site where the timber was extracted then the individual wooden pieces are disassembled then transported on canoes to the village destination. The villagers who ordered the bai are responsible for preparing the nipa palm thatched roof as well as the stone platform in which the foundation posts for the bai will be erected on. The builders also paint various motifs and designs on the walls, beams, and gables of the bai (Ferreira, 66). The bai has six entrances and one continuous window about a foot in height that wraps around the bai obstructed only by the entrance posts. The interior of the bai is free of central columns except for one or two hearths in the center of the bai. The floor is made of a naturally polished wood called dort and is elevated almost 4 feet above ground. The thatched roof of the bai has lashings that can be released so that the roofs can slide down towards the ground to reduce wind resistance during a typhoon which can damage the upper part of the bai (Morgan, 21).
After WWII an American anthropologist, Homer Barnett, observed several men’s clubhouses in Belau in which the men frequently stay at the clubhouse, keeping their personal effects there and sometimes even eating and sleeping there (32). Traditionally the men’s clubhouse was occupied by the group responsible for the defense of the village and also kept concubines as some of the few women allowed to enter the bai. This class of men also doubled as the labor force for village infrastructure (Barnett, 33). The rubakbai on the other hand was reserved for the heads of the villages. The Bai-ra-Irrai is one of three bais around which the village of Irrai was organized. Today it is flanked by two empty stone platforms of earlier bais. Stone pathways extend from Bai-ra-Irrai to other parts of the village such as boat landings and men and women’s baths. Each village leader had a designated spot against the wall inside the rubakbai. The four spots against the corner posts of the rubakbai were reserved for the highest ranking men of the village. The significance of these corner posts and their chiefly occupants may relate to the coordination of the political structure of the village. During construction while groups of builders are subcontracted to make certain sections of the bai the tabalkai is said to be personally responsible for the construction of these four corner posts made from a single piece of lumber (Ferreira, 68). Meetings that took place in the bai were private and negotiations were communicated through whispers carried back and forth in the bai by a scurrying messenger. Topics of discussion were usually concerning warfare and village affairs. Women were not allowed to attend these meetings and the uninvited were severely punished. An expression in Belau might better describe the method of political dialogue of the bai; like drinking the juice of the coconut that flows from darkness to darkness (Parmentier, 73). During the meetings, the mediator among the group sits right below the center horizontal beam, it is said that even this person is responsible for the “purchase” of that single beam to which he will reserve his position under (Parmentier, 73). There is a variety of social and political meaning that is attached to the formal characteristics of the bai from the construction to its final product. One interesting observation of the bai may further reveal the purpose of the bai based on its formal characteristics. The hard wood walls gives one a sense of formidable security while the continuous window around the bai gives the men inside an unobstructed view of the area outside the bai in case of an ambush or inter village spies. The windows are almost like peep holes out into the world while a bystander from the exterior may not be conscious that they are being watched. However one might learn to expect a voyeur whenever he or she is within sight of a bai.
The bai in Belau is not only known for its architectural form but also the designs and motifs painted on the walls, gables and posts of the bai. The horizontal platforms that make up the gables usually have narrative scenes of Belauan myths and legends. The circle with a cross in the center symbolizes Belauan money (Morgan, 26). These symbols may be painted anywhere on the bai in repetition forming bands or these symbols may be painted with a long beaked fowl which depicts the legend of the Belauan money bird. A stylized spider figure is associated with the story of the origin of the practice of natural birth. This spider is painted under a place inside the bai called a rekoi where rolled up floor mats are stored (Belau Natl. Museum, sec 3, par 3). Other symbols painted on the bai include roosters and tridacna shells which have extensive meaning behind them associated with Belauan legends.
The Bai-ra-Irrai as well as the other bai scattered throughout the villages of Belau still stand as artifacts of the past. Although the rules and conditions that traditionally applied to the existence of the bai are different today, the bai has become a symbol for the contemporary Republic of Belau and a material source of cultural information for their youth. The Bai-ra-Irrai is still used today for political and village meetings. The combination of clever architectural technology, unique use of space, and vivid symbolism painted on the bai can be compared to a book which holds as much practical as well as theoretical knowledge of Belau’s past, present, and the culture that created it.
Bibliography
Barnett, H.G. Being a Palauan. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979.
Ferreira, Celio. Palauan Cosmology: Dominance in a Traditional Micronesian Society.
Sweden: Acta Universitatis Gothoburgensis, 1987.
Morgan, William. Prehistoric Architecture in Micronesia. Japan: University of Texas
Press, 1988.
Parmentier, Richard J. The Sacred Remains: Myth, History and Polity in Belau.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1987.
Belau National Museum. “The Bais of Belau”. Underwater Colours. 2 Feb. 2003
6th Annual Seattle Erotic Art Festival
Last night, My girlfriend Katie and I arrived at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall around 7:30 to a room still less than a 1/3 full of people. On one side was the visual art exhibit with mostly 2D art and about a handful of sculpture pieces. There was a main stage lead by the master of ceremonies Aleksa Manila and an aerial stage to the rear for well, aerial performances. A wet bar served up cocktails, beer and non-alcoholic beverages of which I chose to indulge, some Jose Cuervo tequila. And the food, well I sort of expected something more erotic like chocolates or an erotic cake or ice sculpture. I did have a cup of coffee in between tequilas.Festival goers were given a chance to vote up to three visual works and three performances for the “Viewer’s Choice Awards”. One of my favorite performances was a bondage suspension act performed by Sophia & Leopold. The scene involves them going on a picnic with a basket full of rope. Leopold was covered head and face to toe in blue spandex which certainly enhanced Sophia’s role as protagonist. She was dressed up like some coed from a ice cream shop in the American 1950s. Sophia ties her partner up so that he is suspended flat on his back like the seat of a swing. Needless to say Sophia was very fond of this piece of playground equipment and I don’t think Leopold minded the fact that she wore high heels to the park that day too.
Today, the SEAF website boasted over 1500 visitors to the gala. As the evening played on, the crowd attire became more interesting I almost couldn’t tell if they were performers or just on a night out on the town. I wore a dress shirt, tie and slacks but there was a little bit of everything there: feathered boas, tail feathers, leather vests, handlebar mustaches, speedos, fishnet apparel, leashes attached to necks, masks, face paints and accessories, Hugh Hefner style dinner jackets, corsets, nipple pasties, color changing eye contacts, thongs, cowboy hats and chaps, lingerie an even a cub scout outfit. There was zero nudity (if you count pasties as clothing) except for the art on display.
The gala went on until 2am but Katie and I left closer to 10pm. Next time I would get plenty of sleep before hand or get there around 9pm. There was plenty to see all throughout the night with performances an music. We got our picture taken on a medium-format Polaroid before we left and although the coat check line was long, you could still enjoy a drink and a show while you wait. When we left there were dozens of people lined up at the ticket window trying to get in. Job well done to everyone that put this thing together, it was a positive and pleasant experience.
I recommend the Seattle Erotic Art Festival to my blog visitors, I think it will just get better the more people get involved. I also highly recommend more artists to participate and don’t worry about your level of skill, after all I think amateurs have a huge role to play in erotic arts. Although I would urge amateur performers to practice, practice, practice. Bring some friends. Try a scavenger hunt. Here, I’ll get the list started for next year’s gala event.
1.) Green feathered boas.
2.) Strap-On
3.) Rope (actual rope)
4.) A celebrity ( I didn’t know anyone there…)
5.) A schoolteacher…
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