Re-looking at the ground and objects, adding and expanding categories. Objects that have filled the ‘collection’ category began to develop a sub-category, ‘purge’. Purging is a similar act to collecting, but with different connotations. When we purge, we are collecting what we want to remove or get rid off. When we collect, we think of things that we want to keep.
Part of looking more into ‘collection’ involved looking into rituals, and how sometimes they offer a collective moment for people to purge/re-new/transition/release/reflect in order to move forward/become a better person/grow through a collective activity. One ritual of particular interest is carried out in Papua New Guinea, where the feeling of a family member or loved one leaving after visiting is felt so strongly that a specific name, ‘awumbuk’, is given to identity the heaviness of sadness. The ritual allows a person experiencing awumbuk to have 3 days ‘off’ of doing anything, on the third day a bowl of a coconut shell is filled with water to ‘soak’ up sadness which is then thrown away by that person, to purge and remove awumbuk, so that they can now continue life as normal. I found turning an emotion into an object and action interesting, that space is given for one to deal with key moments in their life.
I feel that a distinction is made between ritual and routine. Ritual address spiritual, psychological and emotional needs whereas routine often is actions of the practical; is you don’t brush your teeth you may develop problems with your teeth. Ritual is not a necessity in this way, but is necessary in terms of human emotional/spiritual/psychological development and/or happiness perhaps.
Infrastructures of Autonomy 