Somali Pirates

In the fall of 2008 I had the opportunity to sit in on a community organization and development class at Houghton. I especially enjoyed the sections on artisan fisheries. So when I started reading about the increase in piracy in Somalia on the news, I decided to read a little more.

According to one report, the piracy began to be a problem about 10 years ago when, due to the lack of government regulation/enforcement in Somali waters, international fishing companies moved in and fished the locals right out of their livelihoods. Other corporations took advantage of the lack of enforcement to quietly get rid of toxic waste, which didn't get much attention in the news until waves from the 2005 tsunami, according to Al Jazeera, broke open several containers of toxic waste and washed the contents ashore.

So in response to these practices, small bands of fishermen began calling themselves the coast guard, hijacking fishing vessels and demanding recompense.

The straights of Malacca used to be the most pirated waters out there, but hijackings in 2008 off the coast of Somalia nearly tripled. It appears that the computer techies and militia warlords decided that the fishermen were on to something good, and they got a 30 million dollar a year 'business' going.

This sculpture reflects a little of my own perspective on the issue. There are more pictures of it on my Picasa web album.

cheers!

Fish Aggregating Mugs

From Fish Mug Project

Here is an opportunity for sustainable international development to intersect with culturally eclectic art forms. In the fisheries industry, the term "Fish Aggregating Device" relates to a kind of human-made alternative to a coral reef, which provides shelter for small fish, and in turn attracts schools of pelagic species like tuna. A little over ten years ago I had the opportunity to observe the Indonesian version of a Fish Aggregating Device, or in Bahasa, a Rompong.
On this mug in particular I was thinking about different ways of depicting objects across different culture. While artists in the west have traditionally tended to depict what we actually see, other cultural traditions approach the problem from a different perspective. Indigenous artists in Australia have a tradition of depicting an animal or object as more than just what meets the eye resulting in an X-ray like drawing that maps out the soul under scrutiny. I like this idea, and have borrowed it here.

New Tea Set

I finished this tea set in the spring of 2008. The glaze is a light iron blue celadon applied over a cobalt and iron-bearing stoneware slip.

From Tea Sets and Stuff

Fish Mugs - January 2009

Recently I've been working on these fish mugs. What, you may ask, is the significance of fish? Well... Jesus ate them, so they must be good. I read it on the internet.