To celebrate ascent magazine’s
Utne Independent Press Award for Best Spiritual Coverage,
the ashram community participated in a spontaneous ESSEN
performance. In the latest issue of ascent, an article called
‘Don’t
Talk with my Mouth Full’ details performance artist
Victoria Stanton’s participatory art project, in which
participants feed one another across the dining table.
Dressed in white shirts and dark pants, everybody filed into
the dining room and chose their food from the buffet style serving
table. Then we took our plates to a row of tables that had been
lined up, each person with a partner who sat across the table
with the other person’s dish in front of them.
“It felt strange to be looking at another person’s
dish and being fed from my own dish across the table,” said
Melissa McBride.
The meal of quinoa, steamed vegetables, tofu and miso-sesame
sauce was simple. Most of us haven’t experienced being
fed since we were children, and afterwards many people commented
on the intimacy, trust and surrender involved in the performance.
“I was disturbed by the lack of control I felt,” said
Malcolm Pearson. “The food somehow tasted different and
I was forced to step out of my normal eating patterns. I usually
eat one thing at a time, but of course my partner didn’t
know that and he fed me different combinations of things, combinations
I wouldn’t have thought of. Then I found myself feeding
my partner the way I feed myself.”
“I also felt the lack of control,” said Melissa Mcbride. “I
usually eat very slowly and savour each mouthful, but with another
person feeding me I wanted to scarf everything down. I participated
because it was a community practice, and this broughtmore meaning
and intention to the experience.”
The ashram observance of eating meals in silence was put aside
for the performance, and the tone of the event was light and
fun. Victoria Stanton notes the “ritual aspect of eating” in
her article, and this aspect is often present in the ashram dining
room in a personal, intimate way. By involving the whole community,
with a focus on awareness and attention, the meal was transformed
into a spiritual practice.
ascent magazine will conduct two ESSEN performances: Vegetarian
Haven in Toronto, January 14, 2006, and radha yoga & eatery
in Vancouver, January 28, 2006. If you’d like to participate,
email essen@ascentmagazine.com
by Roseanne Harvey |
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