Means of Production
Working for the past few days on my ‘Means of Production’ project, I found the first order of business was to cut the outrageously long grass with my kama. Shortly after starting I was approached by two Chinese women who were animatedly talking in Cantonese and pantomiming the kama’s cutting motion. I realized that they wanted to show me something. One lady spoke a little English and indicated to me that I was doing it incorrectly. She indicated that her 79 year old friend would show me how it is done. Apparently the 79 year old had spent her girlhood cutting grass for cooking fuel in the mountains of Guangdong Province and then went on to raise six children. What followed was a remarkable demonstration of ergonomic efficiency and she soon had a large area of grass cleared; the ‘swish swish’ of the kama punctuted by her cackling laughter and chortling expletives. The next day the pair gave a similar demonstation to the members of the Environmental Youth Alliance with whom I had been working, again laughing away as they showed us their mastery of a deceptively simple skill.
Later the MONOLITH arrived- a 5000 lb block of granite inscribed with the words “Means of Production”, a reference to Marx’s concept and our intention to furnish the raw materials needed for a degree of self sufficiency by planting an urban forest.
