[GSBN] blood finish

Fri Mar 25 17:08:55 UTC 2011

I agree with Bob that there's a big "ick factor" at play here.  I was in
college for a bit in Sweden, where the staple diet of students on a budget
was black pudding, a acquired a taste for it before my girlfriend told me
what it was.  But it's also notable that there doesn't seem to be much, if
any, use of blood as a building material among Haitians, and that's worthy
of more investigation and serious consideration.  Hatians aside (for the
moment) I'll offer a couple of thought for us middle class natural builders.
This naturally veers off into ethics and morals, and perhaps off-topic, but
it seems germane to the issue at hand, or at foot, as the case may be.

In terms of killing and suffering, though it's not as obvious as the death
of a large animal, there are plenty of deaths and much suffering of insects,
small animals and even humans that result from cultivation, harvesting and
manufacturing food products from which oil is extracted. The fact that it's
a vegetable doesn't mean that we've acquired and/or used it without harm to
others.

Using blood from an animal which otherwise would be wasted, is actually a
way of acquiring a very sophisticated, effective and useful material *
without* causing additional harm.  Additionally,  the body of the animal is
put to use, beyond food, in a way that provides lasting benefit. This
creates the opportunity for an animal which otherwise would die
'autonomously'  in a dark corner, to receive the merit and gratitude, and
perhaps prayers, of those who benefit daily from its sacrifice.

John "Just Add some Pine Nuts & Spices"  Swearingen

On Fri, Mar 25, 2011 at 9:07 AM, Bob Theis <bob at bobtheis.net> wrote:

> Three contributions:
>
> 1. There's a blood-finished adobe floor in the former home of Millicent
> Rogers  in Santa Fe NM ( now a museum ) a gorgeous deep burgundy red that
> was fifty years old when we saw it and going strong. I was quite impressed.
> 2. I ordered blood sausage, mostly out of curiosity, while on tour in
> France and the most vivid memory is not the meal,  but how my whole music
> group, normally an adventurous lot,  went into variations of "ick! ".
> 3.  My guess  is that you're rationalizing the "ick factor " ( a technical
> term  from the recycled water industry ). Having strolled the meat markets
> in Jacmel and Fondwa, with goat heads staring out and flies aplenty, I would
> venture that ordinary  Haitians don't have their ick factor set anywhere as
> high as middle class us.
>
> Definitely research the cultural implications, but blood is local, it's
> free and it works well. It deserves serious consideration for a trial.
>
>
> On Mar 24, 2011, at 10:45 PM, martin hammer wrote:
>
> Hello all,
>
> Below are thoughts from an important member of our BWB strawbale team in
> Haiti regarding the idea of using blood as a sealer / hardener for the
> earthen floor.  Regine Laroche is an architect and the only Haitian member
> of our design team.  The informative GSBN discussion about this included two
> of our builders in Haiti, Andy Mueller (lead builder and initiator of the
> discussion) and Tina Therrien (who is doing the finish floor), and
> eventually led to an internal discussion about how we would finish the
> floor.  Blood was being considered, and after biting my tongue (but not to
> the point of bleeding) I expressed my preference for not using blood on the
> floor of this building.  It didn’t feel right to me personally (note: I’m
> not vegetarian) and I questioned how it would be received by Haitians (as
> did Derek Roff from BWB).  So I put the question to Regine and here is her
> response:
>
>
> *Subject:* Re: Floor finish.  Use oil (not blood) . . .
>
> Hello
>
> Touchy, touchy subject!
> I've been a vegetarian for over 20 years, and personally find the idea
> highly distasteful.  It's true that no animal will likely be killed
> specifically for that reason, and in some respect the notion of recycling
> ironically applies here.  However, we are talking about a substance that
> carries the very essence of life itself- even to the point that we humans go
> to great lengths to store it up and transfer it  from original "donors" to
> "recipients" for life-saving purposes.
> More importantly, it seems to me the issue of cultural biases you pointed
> out, Martin, is KEY.  I will venture to say that if you do use blood as part
> of  finishing procedures for the floor, chances run HIGH that people will
> perceive this in a totally different light and associate it with ritual
> sacrifice and even the so-called "dark arts" (notice: I didn't say "vodou",
> a term many allow themselves to use without having ever bothered to
> seriously research its actual content).  Remember, we are dealing with a
> culture that believes everything is endowed with consciousness and that
> beyond the end of physical life, some subtle essence (soul or energy)
> persists.  I'll be curious to observe the fate of a house people know to
> have been treated in such manner.
> I have never heard of such practices in construction here, but since many
> things  no doubt escape my radar, I have asked a few people more familiar
> than myself with local traditional construction practices.  All had never
> heard of it either and were shocked at the prospect.
>
> Food for thought!
>
> Regine L.
>
>
> You can follow the preceding thread below if you like, including my
> ponderings and Tina’s thoughtful considerations, but suffice it to say, the
> subject is quite charged in Haitian culture.  I’ll broaden this to say that
> it points to the importance of considering culture and context in all
> building decisions, including materials, how they are used, and of course
> all aspects of functional and aesthetic design, including matters of
> symbolism and meaning.  It’s not to say one can never go against or try to
> break through cultural bias if one believes they have good reason (including
> in one’s own culture, as we often do with strawbale itself!), but it should
> be done knowingly, with good and wise intention, and understanding of
> consequences.
>
> Martin Hammer
>
> ------------------------------
> On 18-Mar-11, at 4:31 AM, martin hammer wrote:
>
>
>  Dear Tina,
>
> If it's not too late I want to strongly encourage that oil, not blood be
> used to finish the floor and make it more durable.  Although I know blood
> is
> used in various parts of the world for this purpose, using blood seems
> philosophically wrong to me for this building (or maybe any building).  To
> rely on fresh blood from another living creature to finish the floor, when
> vegetable or mineral materials also work (even if the creature was to be
> slaughtered anyway), seems antithetical to what I think our work as natural
> and sustainable builders espouses.  I'm not vegetarian, but it still feels
> wrong to me.  I've remained silent on this, but have struggled with this
> feeling and it hasn't gone away.  I've copied others on this for their
> thoughts.
>
> Thanks,
> Martin
>
>
>
> On 3/18/11 7:23 AM, "Tina Therrien" <strawbus at auracom.com> wrote:
>
> It's not too late. Floor is still drying (the half to be plastered
> tomorrow, now that we have materials here again:)
>
> The idea of blood for the finish was in part because of discussions about
> plaster finishes, out of an uncertainty of what oils are even available
> locally (and how they work as a hardener) and out of a curiosity to know how
> it actually was traditionally used in finishes & plasters. I didn't want to
> use a product/material that would require an animal to be killed, but
> started thinking about it more seriously due to the fact that there really
> is a cow that is slaughtered weekly just down the road from GrassRoots. That
> does seem natural to me, to use materials that are locally present in the
> community. But I wasn't sold on it, more curious. It certainly isn't ethical
> to kill animals solely to have plaster materials, but for me, I was
> comfortable using blood from an animal that was going to be slaughtered
> regardless of our plaster finish. Honestly, I wasn't sure how it would
> 'feel' to use blood, but I am still quite interested in knowing
> traditionally how it was applied. I forgot to pick up coconut oil, but will
> do so over the next few days, unless there is a better oil/finish idea that
> comes up in the various conversations about this.
>
> cheers,
> tina
>
>
>
> *From:* martin hammer <mfhammer at pacbell.net>
> *To:* Tina Therrien <strawbus at auracom.com>
> *Cc:* Andy Mueller <info at greenspacecollaborative.com>; Catherine Wanek <
> mail at builderswithoutborders.org>; Derek Roff <derek at unm.edu>; Regine
> Laroche <anakaite at yahoo.com>; Mark Phillips <mrppy1 at gmail.com>
> *Sent:* Fri, March 18, 2011 12:31:42 PM
> *Subject:* Re: Floor finish.  Use oil (not blood) . . .
>
> Thanks Tina.  I know this brings up issues about what is “natural”,
> including the notion that blood is natural, especially in the case where as
> you say a cow is slaughtered weekly, locally and that this is part of the
> society and culture.  I really do appreciate that aspect of it.  I also
> appreciate that you say it would be unethical to kill an animal solely for
> this purpose, which I assumed you and everyone else would say.  So I don’t
> want to be naïve or falsely pure about this.  Death is part of life (is that
> a legitimate view here), and if this slaughter will occur anyway, then one
> could say the blood would just go to waste (presumably), so why not use it
> for good purpose.  Maybe there is already a history of use of blood in
> plaster and earthen floors in Haiti, especially in rural areas.  Can you ask
> some of the Haitians there about any history, and what they think about
> using blood in this manner regardless of its history?  There may be strong
> cultural bias, either for or against.  (Regine, could you please weigh in on
> this?)  I’m being very careful about this, especially for this model
> building, as it tends to set precedent (and may even encourage undue
> slaughter for a future building?).  My own instinct is still against, but
> I’ll remain open to a full exploration of all sides, including but not only
> its effectiveness, which I think it deserves.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Martin
>
>
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-- 
John Swearingen
Skillful Means Design & Construction
2550 9th Street   Suite 209A
Berkeley, CA   94710
510.849.1800 phone
510.849.1900 fax

Web Site:  http://www.skillful-means.com
Blog:         https://skillfulmeansdesign.wordpress.com
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