Bite 4 by FP: Earl Stumpf, my Dad, saved each of his pay-packets from the first day he worked in the soul-destroying factory where he eventually spent 50 years. He gave all his money to his stepmom until he married.

Paper, tin, plexiglass 30cmL x 20cmW x 40cmH $5,000

Bite 4 by NN: Soul destroying factories are constructed with the bricks and mortar of injustice. When any human being survives such experiences, it is an indicator of resilience and a measure of how strong the human heart can be. Earl Stumpf was one such survivor. The nature of his working life has been preserved for posterity because he found a home in the memory of his daughter who loves him. This suggests belonging is more than a material or spatial concept. It cannot be limited to a notion of being ‘here’ or ‘there’. It is intangible yet powerful, suggesting that our very own sense of identity and being is composite. Indigenous peoples have retained this composite knowledge and wisdom which connects land and identity – rather than wage and identity. Their pay-packets were filled with tobacco, sugar and flour.