Well, maybe I sounded harsh on the Desperation thread, but truly I've not found much here lately that really piques my interest. And that may be my fault in that my interests have been evolving a lot lately.
In the past 18 months, I have started a new career, discovered I have a chronic lung disease (don't worry I'll live), had my house hit by lightning thereby losing many of my posessions and now I just lost my job that I really enjoyed. Oh, and my husband and I are still trying to relocate to New Mexico, but the real estate market is a mess and the world economy is not much better! I have been preoccupied with this long laundry list of things that has taken me away from enjoying the aesthetics of stuff.
But what I have learned is that stuff and the space for the stuff is an integral part of feeling happy and secure. At least it is for me, and I imagine for a good number of others as well. But what I don't want anymore in my life is stuff that I can live without. I want a simple, curated space and a simpler life. I now know that health-wise I will never be able to return to all of the activities that I used to do, so I am getting rid of all the stuff related to those activities. I am trying to live a smaller more peaceful life that treats my home, my health, and the planet with more respect.
Not that I was a conspicuous consumer before all this, but I really want to be a very conscious consumer now. Do I need it or do I just want it? Do I really love it or is it just OK? I am trying to build a life that contains just what I need and have those things bring me joy when I look at them.
Turning my life on it's head at 47 is very stressful, but it is also quite liberating. I can jettison stuff, habits, people and work that are not good for me. It's a bit scary to do all that but in the end I know I will have made a good life for my husband and I.
So how does all this blather relate to design? For me it relates quite tightly. I want to walk into a store and be able to purchase simple well-made objects that do their intended tasks well and are pleasurable to interact with. And that could be something as mundane as a coffee maker or as esoteric as an art piece. And largely, I am dissapointed with what I can find in the general marketplace. I need to search out (and needless to say, pay more for) items fit the above criterion.
So how do you, the designers, take over the world and create tools and objects that are not intended to be thrown away in two years? How do you manufacturer them in ways that don't destroy our planet? How do we redefine our economies so that we can continue to grow without the need for producing more and more crap that enters the waste stream? How do I, as a conscious consumer, reach you the designer and say... Make me the good stuff!?
Olive, sorry to hear that you lost your job and the health issues.
At 48 I've come to believe that things happen for a reason and I truly believe that while it might not seem so at the outset, things tend to work out for the better, at least in my experience. All that one door closes and another opens stuff. I've always felt positive energy begets positive outcomes. I know you'll do great.
Inspirational link Olive... ...
Inspirational link Olive... Rekindled thoughts I've set aside. I still have much work to do in order to reduce my consumption needs. It's quite a challenge finding those products that address all our concerns and needs.
Looks like it's been a rough summer for you...even though I don't know you, I can confidently say from what I sense about you...is that you're a fighter in to succeed. One way or another, you'll pull things together.
The Story of Stuff addresses what I've felt for a long time...that Capitalism in it's current form, is a dead end path...but, not a necessary one. What about population issues?
Maybe what you are saying...
Maybe what you are saying Olive relates to design, or at least GOOD DESIGN, in a large sense, because it does not appear as blather, but rather, seems genuinely heartfelt, whatever that can mean.
I think I've mentioned before at the Design Addict the essays of Wendell Berry, which would be seen out of place here were he not out of place. Place is crucial, to know one's and to celebrate such arrival, to finally - for whatever it might be worth - get the s(c)tick.
I was thinking I would put this up at the Desperation thread, but here seems good, so what the hell. A poem by Charles Simic, which I believe should say a lot to not just the world but to the material world as well, titled
County Fair
If you didn't see the six-legged dog,
It doesn't matter.
We did, and he mostly lay in the corner.
As for the extra legs,
One got used to them quickly
And thought of other things.
Like, what a cold, dark night
To be out at the fair.
Then the keeper threw a stick
and the dog went after it.
On four legs, the other two flapping behind,
Which made one girl shriek with laughter.
She was drunk and so was the man
Who kept kissing her neck.
The dog got the stick and looked back at us.
And that was the whole show.
*
Hats off to you, Olive. What...
Hats off to you, Olive. What a refreshingly sincere and rich train of thought. I wish more people would allow time for such introspection -- you may be surprised how shameless folks are about keeping the noise to signal ratio intentionally high in their lives.
And I know whereof you speak. The depressing thing to me is that it seems like few American's really care enough about pride-in-craftmanship, or even quality-control these days. They want NEWNESS. Fresh junk, that, once it ceases to be new, becomes old junk. Once upon a time, you could depend on QC, esp. from stateside goods. It was America's undisputed strong suit. Now, that level of attention is reserved mostly for boutique goods. Years ago, I started stocking up on old Levi's when I started to notice their quality flagging. This is even before they shipped 100% of their manufacturing overseas. I had stockpiles -- which I never really wanted to have to house. Once upon a time, you could run down to Sears Roebuck when your 501s blew out, and replace with a trusted standard as needed. I cared about the quality, and caring complicates your life -- in this instance, with girth.
As for economizing on space and possessions -- I've moved around more in the last five yeras than in the ten before that and there's something about seeing your possessions in numerous boxes every other year, and hoisting said boxes...it certainly puts you in touch with yourself (see George Carlin's Stuff skit). My attitude has evolved thusly; if I am paying for square footage to house something more than myself and the basic vestiges of survival, then every last article beyond that must be something worth housing...must be worth preventing me from being the nomad that I wish I could be. No nostalgia, no sentimental bits, and minimal ornamentation. I sense that a lot of folks are getting on board with this idea these days.
Stewardship
Olive, I hope things turn around for you - or turn the corner to something new 😀
Good video - little pedantic - but its points were well made. Stewardship is a word that's been in my mind a lot lately. I'm moving again and there is nothing like a move to sit you down and scream at you just how much stuff you have.
In past moves I've been weaning and thinning down - getting rid of extraneous things - mostly be leaving them on the sidewalk with a "free" sticker on them. At this move I'm happy that, while I've definitely gained more stuff, I am finding less and less to throw away/donate. which means that the stuff I am acquiring is long term, non disposable.
This is also one of the pegs that I try to hammer home in my argument about knock-offs. Without going into the specifics of licensing and rights I think it is still important to note that vintage pieces can be seen as having transferable value. I am not the owner of my Eames chair - I am the steward of it until it is passed on to someone else who will use it. Interestingly enough, as I move into the new place and need things like a dining table and dining chairs, I have been searching more and more used/vintage places rather than new.
Stewardship, indeed!
You are quite right, Lucifer Sum. A cultural mentality of stewardship is what we need to cultivate. It's some thing that we had when our ancestors emigrated here from 'the old country' and lost during the post war boom years. It definitely needs to return to our societal habits. I admit that having grown up with parents who had a strong depression-era mentality, that when I was younger I rebelled against everything having to be old, reused and handed-down. But as I've gotten older, items with history seem to be appealing to me again. That and stuff that can be repurposed to new tasks. One of my favorites in that department is my $30 find of and old Tesuke Pueblo chili mortar, carved from a single trunk of mesquite. Turned upside down it looks for all the world like an Eames stool, only a bit more 'used'. I love it. That the kind of thing that I value these days.
And speaking of stewardship and reuse...now that my life has settled down somewhat I have GOT to get those Eames shell chairs out of my garage! I've photographed them all and written up a speadsheet detailing the condition. I'll start a thread soon so that folks can contact me for the details!
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