The Spitbox

If I want to devote another entry to the gallery souvenirs, it has to be the spitbox.

 

Do you know what a spitbox is? I have never seen it in Sydney. There are a lot of them in China. I attached a picture of it here.

 

For a long time in China, many of the families can not afford to build houses with toilet. A few different houses will share one toilet. The toilet is outside the houses, and is within equal distance to each house that are sharing it. For elderly and children to use toilet at night, this becomes a problem. Many families buy spitbox to solve this problem. I had one at home when I was young. My loving mother would empty it for me every morning.

 

I have never seen it since I left China until recently. I saw a Chinese spitbox sitting on the top of the reception counter of the gallery. When I asked if it is for sale, the receptionist told me with a lovely smile that “Yes, $24.95 for one”, with her face almost touching the side of the spitbox. I was in awe. It is never a place that I would imagine it would be.

 

I was in more shock when seeing the different usages the gallery promote the spitbox to be: Ice bucket, flower vase, kitchen utensils holder, and the most inspiring one is fruit bowl.

 

Well, why not?

 

My previous experience with the spitbox prevents me associating it with any other usages. Now I look at the shape and height of it, I think to myself it may work well as a flower vase. A fruit bowl may be a little bit out of my reach, but I can see it can hold a lot.

 

I can't help wondering, does this run a parallel with what art can do: challenging people's assumptions and stereotype, change people's ways of seeing things. 

Now, I can not wait to see my mother's face when I tell her we can use the spitbox for food. It will be a fun thing to watch.