Mats Bigert
and Lars Bergström work as artists. The Bigert-Bergström
combination arose in 1986 and has resulted in, among other things,
installations, compact disks, and projects on the radio and the Internet.
Their works have been receiving international attention for the past ten
years. Some of these works are Climate Chambers (1994), LOOP (1995), Bubblegum
Pink (1996), Therapy Taxi (1997), and The Big Feed (film, 1999). They're
currently working on a cookbook on the theme "the last supper",
and are therefore looking for "a sponsor with a fat wallet for an
impossible project".
Annika Hansson is the chief editor of CRAC in Context http://www.crac.org . At the same time, she contributes to the Moderna Museet web site http://www.modernamuseet.se. Earlier, she was the chief editor of Art Orbit http://www.artnode.se/artorbit
Death is the punishment that 36 American states impose on men and women who have committed extremely serious crimes. Currently there are 35 000 people in the USA awaiting execution and its attendant rituals. "The Big Feed" is the name given to the condemned person´s last meal. It is also the title of the documentary produced by Mats Bigert and Lars Bergström for the Swedish Broadcasting Corporationís television programme Ikon. The film is a report from death´s waiting room - Death Row - and deals with prisoners absolutely final orders for meals.
Mats Bigert´s and Lars Bergström´s work has for a long time circulated round capital punishment, prisoners who have been condemned to death and their last meal. Their interest - or, more correctly, their fascination - with the subject was aroused when they leafed through American papers that reported on executions that had been carried out in various states. These were neutrally written reports but with the prisonerís last meal described in the most precise detail. And the choice of food was the only - though fragile - clue to the personality and background of the condemned person.
click on the pictures to see an excerpt from the video
"The big Feed" in real video
Condemned prisoners in the USA often wait for their execution for more than ten years. They are kept in a sort of limbo - living dead - until the day when it is time for the poison injection or the electric chair. Shortly before the prisoner is led to his death there is, in many states, an attempt at an illusion of human sympathy: the prisoner can himself choose what his final meal shall consist of. In certain prisons the prisoner is allowed to choose anything he likes. And the orders vary from exclusive dishes to junk food like hamburgers and French fries. In other states the condemned prisoner can choose between a number of alternatives on a printed menu. In some states there is no choice whatsoever.
The prisoner spends the last days before the execution on the death watch. There he is kept under surveillance day and night in a denuded room. The aim is to keep the prisoner uninjured and alive until the execution can be carried out clinically and efficiently with the blessing of the state.
The prisoner eats his last meal in captivity and sometimes on his knees. The food is finely chopped and "reconstituted" so that the prisoner only needs plastic cutlery, if that. Since death ensues shortly afterwards the food comes out just as quickly as it went in since all muscular functions cease.
While filming "The Big Feed" Bigert & Bergström met a number of prisoners with different amounts of time left to live. One young man in the film explains that he intends to fast until his execution in order to remain lucid and conscious of what is really happening. Eating the final meal would be tantamount to accepting one´s death sentence. Another man gives a list of quantities of food that he plans to order so that, in some bizarre way, he will get "value" for his punishment. This man was executed two weeks after Bigert & Bergströmís visit.
In the lists of final meals that American prisoners have ordered there is everything from dishes with religious symbolism and poetic content - such as unleavened bread or an apple - to a request for motherís home-made lasagne. Hamburgers are by far the most common order while lobster is among the more exclusive. Since information about the meals is registered at every prison, Bigert & Bergstr–m are rather surprised that no one has previously shown an interest in the subject.
Preparation and research for the film was extensive. Bigert & Bergstr–m searched in prison archives in both the USA and Europe. A hundred or so faxes and letters were exchanged with prison administrators and prisoners in various parts of the USA. American prisoners who have been condemned to death are entitled by law to give interviews but the prison system is not constructed to make it easy for the media to meet them. However, there was no difficulty in getting the prisoners themselves to take part and to talk. The problem was, rather, to give a considered opinion on the subject. This meant that many feet of film were later edited out.
For Bigert & Bergström the documentary was a new way of working as was the interview situation. The purely artistic process, they consider, is more controlled while work on a documentary can develop in entirely unexpected directions. They are now working on a "cookery book" based on their extensive material on the death penalty and the final meal.
While the film shows that "the Big Feed" is a phenomenon that bears not the slightest resemblance to the ritual´s biblical origin - Jesusí last supper - Bigert & Bergström offer another parallel. This is Proust and his Madeleine cake. A taste, a scent and a visual impression from childhood makes life pass review. And there are those who claim that the same thing happens at the moment of death.
Translation by William Jewson