Feast and Famine

Feast and Famine

A few weeks back I went to Express Newark which is a museum in Newark. Upon going I did no research or had an interest in learning more about what I was about to walk in to. My class toured the Paul Roberson Feast and Famine Gallery. A name that speaks for itself, the gallery is about food; the lack of food and some cases the overindulging of it. We were surrounded by food, fake food, uncooked food, machines that could make food and even saw a visual of someone consuming and spitting out liquids. The two pieces that really caught my attention was Rap on Rice by Dominique Duroseau and Thin by Lauren Greenfield.

            Rap on Rice looked like a table of mixed black and white small things. The theme of racism immediately popped into my mind. At first, I thought, “Is that rice?” then I thought “But where’d they find black rice from”. I was tempted to touch it, so I did. It was rice. As I examined the piece there were pictures all around it about racism. This two-part multi-artist performance aims to spark conversation and engage spectators to identify bias, prejudice, discrimination, and racism. The artists are tasked with separating black and white grains of rice as they discuss issues related to race and ethnicity. During the tour, I was able to actively participate with another classmate. In my head, it was a competition: Who can separate the rice the fastest. Quite honestly, I wanted to win. But then as I listened to the tour guide explain the piece, I began to realize what I was doing: I was segregating the rice. There was nothing different about the rice, they would still; cook the same and essentially have the same end goal: to be eaten.

            The first one got my attention mainly by curiosity then gradually mentally while the next piece caught my attention emotionally. The piece by Lauren Greenfield was about eating disorders. The piece had pictures of women who were struggling with under-eating, overeating, some were bigger and others looked smaller. While doing some research I realized that Thin is a documentary This documentary, directed by Lauren Greenfield, follows four young women dealing with anorexia and bulimia at a strict treatment facility in Florida where they temporarily live. As the camera follows them, Shelly, Polly, Brittany, and Alisa, ranging in age from 15 to 30 years old, have group therapy sessions, weigh-ins, and meals. The women discuss the emotional and psychological issues tied to their body-image problems, as each struggles to fight the urge to lose more weight.

I was drawn to these two pieces because they’re about me. I have struggled with being an overweight black girl for years. Even as a child I never understood why my weight and race would always some hoe hinder me. I would miss out on great opportunities because I was too big for my age group. Or I wouldn’t be qualified for something because I was black. It was hard for me to understand then and it’s still sometimes difficult for me to understand now. Of course, now, society has done a 360 Black women are embraced. Everyone wants a piece of some Melanin. People are looking up to black women and it’s so refreshing.

While being overweight is being praised, growing up culturally it was frowned upon. I was the joke of the family reunions. All my cousins would be 2 sizes smaller than me and I would be the person that everyone wanted to talk to about. I never liked my weight. I still struggle now as a 21 year- old. So every now and again I would overeat as a coping mechanism and then when I went on trips to Guyana, I wouldn’t eat. I would have the smallest plated amongst my cousins who were half my size. I would force myself to lose weight every time I went to Guyana because I knew I was being watched and wanted something to prove.

Work Cited
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MU43f8ElG4
https://paulrobesongalleries.expressnewark.org/event/rap-on-race-with-rice-2/
https://www.expressnewark.org/exhibits/feast-famine/