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Story by
twiststyle
Published on July 4, 2008 in Craftivism |
Photo by It'sGreg |
Consumerism: A passion for acquisition of personal property; the concept that a healthy economy requires a strong consumer market; advocacy to protect consumers from false advertising, shoddy merchandise.
Have you noticed how the definition of consumerism is being interpreted by those of us in America who consider ourselves part of the so-called Indie Movement? This movement has been initiated, motivated, propagated by us – and folks like us from all over the world. Us, being the people who care more about the personal part of the property. Us, being worldwide consumers, AND artists, crafts people, activists, punk rockers, back woods weavers, dirty potters, knitting divas, computer nerds, and so much more. We, being one weird bunch coming together to create something and succeeding. Succeeding because we are working together across our opposite occupations, mismatched philosophies. We are the buyers and the sellers who are bringing the world back to basics.
Think about baby America for a minute. Baby America was full of rebels and idealists. Full of people who wanted to find a different way, a better way, a more fulfilling way; people like us. Those oddball revolutionaries built this new world with hand forged tools as they pushed across the land. And the lands were settled and each settlement was full of folks with the necessary skills for survival: they could make soap, knit socks, shoe a horse. Each settlement had some sort of crafts people - basket weavers, blacksmiths, and carpenters. The people created what they needed on their own, and they went to the local Indie folks for the works that fell out side of their own skill set. And the nation flourished and grew and prospered. Then, folks spread out even further a field and it became hard for them to get all the things they needed. During this time, the blight of slavery began to spread across our nation as many of our forefathers looked for ways to more easily obtain what they needed and wanted.
The nation grew more, and more, full of all manner of great minds, melding skills from all over the vast, earthen world. There were times people traveled many miles by horse and buggy, or waited months and months for their goods to be delivered, but the Indie Artist Craftsperson was still able to make at least some sort of living.
But our new country continued to grown even bigger. And smarter. And faster. The machine age of industry grew, and the plastic world began. General stores became Five and Dimes, and then Sears and Roebucks, and then Targets and Wal-Marts. The American people could easily find very inexpensive items to meet their every need. They no longer had to MAKE life's little necessities. They no longer needed to visit their local craftsman or wait for a handcrafted dining table from the carpenter three towns away. They could buy particle board and polyester! They never had to sit up at night to knit mittens or slippers because they could run down to the Super Center at any hour of the day or night to buy such things for pennies of the cost of knitting them!
The craftastic connections that had made communities strong in spirit and economy began to unravel and the people in Adolescent America seemed to have forgotten how positively lovely it was to sleep beneath a hand pieced quilt, made by a grandma lady, and filled with natural fibers. They forgot that buying hand thrown pottery dishes to eat off of, not only keeps an age old art alive, it fulfills someone’s creative drive; it helps SOMEONE ELSE to support their family.
Thank goodness we, not just us Americans, but all the people of the Indie Craft Movement, have come along to connect the dots. We have begun to recant some of the mistakes our parents and grandparents made. We have started to realize once again how delicious it feels to wash up with natural goat's milk soap and to dress our babies in handcrafted clothes emblazoned with pirates and sushi. And we have started to realize what this awakening means to consumerism, to craft, to the economy, to people, to the country, to the WORLD!
How odd that this eye-opening fusion of consumption and craftivism, connecting us and helping us create a more personal level of consumerism has been birthed from the all amassing global sphere of technology and information known as the internet. If only those original renegades could see where their steps have led us; right back to a new frontier. It is still a new frontier. And just like the original American frontier folk, we are relying on each other for support and encouragement. We are turning to each other to buy the things we cannot make ourselves. We are teaching each other and ourselves new skill sets. It seems that after several generations of near oblivion, we are beginning to be much more responsible in Adolescent America. We are more concerned about our Earth and the land; much more concerned about the foods we eat and the waste we create; once again interested in helping and supporting each other in a crafty sense.
The naysayers who call our movement a trend — they just don't get it. They must not be hearing us when we say that this sense of community, albeit mostly virtual, is changing a lot of lives, this country, and the world for the good. But they will see, because we are all standing together on this front, sewing machines and scissors at the ready — and we ARE making a difference.
If you're interested, I recommend these for further reading:
http://www.artjewelryforum.org/speakers-presentations/diy-websites-and-energy-the-new-alternative-crafts/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/etsy_ebay_distributed_mass_customization.php
https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/dspace/bitstream/1794/5194/1/Rachel_Johnson_07.pdf
Big thanks to twiststyle for sharing her reflections. Please leave your thoughts in the comments below! You can also read, Crafting, Consumerism & Cooptation: Materializing a Utopian Idea, MicroRevolt: Changing the Way We Think About Protest, or stringtheory's Make like a Tree posts.
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Tags | America, consumerism, CRAFTIVISM, indie movement, politics, twiststyle | |
39 comments Login to add your own!
redyellowandblueink
BrazanDesign
Wonderfully thought out and beautifully written. Quite a joy to read on this Independence Day. Thank you!
valutree
How do I stand up and clap over the computer. Well done. I'm printing this out and hanging it my studio for motivation.
LarkStudio
buckscountyframes
Very well written. Thank you and thank you for including our photo " American Chair "
ikat
mew mew RAWR mew mew :D = lovely! RAWR! My feelings exaclty! Thank you :)
ebbandflo
what a thoughtful and stimulating article though i must admit i initially had difficulty in getting past the last two words in the first paragraph - the image of the hammock video how-to kept springing to mind!
scarletbloom
What a wonderful and touching piece. It brought tears to my eyes, thank you so much for writing this. It's why I wake up every morning fufilling my dream to create. I had been struggling with the idea that just by making things I was encouraging the mass-consumerism I am so strongly against. But now I've seen the bigger picture. Thank you.
nectorgirl
Exactly what my thoughts are scarletbloom, a stunning article!
Many thanks and blessings to all who share this amazing community.
moop
HippieDippyDesigns
Beautifully written and well said!! There was a thread in the forums that asked if handmade was just a fad. When I read that I though "It certainly is not! Handmade has always been around and always will be!"
twiststyle
Wow-wee. It's so great to see everyone's comments! I'm so inspired by everyone here at Etsy and find myself constantly amazed at how much WE ARE ALL accomplishing. Thank you to everyone who read my artice; it's very reassuring to know that you all feel the same way!
eclipse
This is a very simplified version of American History and of economics. The early stages of mass production in this country IMPROVED people's standard of living. They grew the American middle class and the labor movement. Early assembly-line factories like Ford paid good wages for their time, and established the 8 hour workday. Manufacturing jobs were good union jobs with good benefits, unlike most service-sector jobs. The problem is that nothing is manufactured domestically anymore.
Mass production isn't always bad.
SilverSparrowDesigns
I feel honored to have my earrings featured beneath such an inspiring article! And, eclipse, I have to disagree...
twiststyle
Truly, this article is not meant to nutshell American History or our country's economy, but to share my thoughts on the pitfalls of mass production, and on the readiness of so many American's to just run down to the supercenter to buy something they could easily buy from an independent artisan. I just wanted to encourage thoughtfulness in consumerism, and also to point out some of the ways we, the makers and members of the DIY movement are *somewhat* - metaphorically - like those original revolutionaries.
Yes, mass production has its place; I don't know of anyone crocheting automobiles at this time.
AnvilArtshop
Bravo, twiststyle. Well-written, well-researched, well done!
With your permission, I'd like to print out your article and place it in my showroom for clients *and* artisan colleagues to read... We all need a reminder from time to time of what and why we create.
myopicvisions
This is a beautiful article. I noticed the comments by scarletbloom...you took the words right out of my mouth! There's nothing wrong with creating - we cannot and should not suppress that urge within us just because as a whole, we have gone too far with the mass of things produced and bought at Walmart and the like. We can go back in time and make things better :)
craftfreak
Love your article! I have been intending to create a mixed media work depicting consumerism. This article has really inspired me to get it done. Thanks.
ebbandflo
crocheted automobiles - not so far
but a crocheted motorcycle hmmmm ... http://whatnottocrochet.wordpress.com...
mygoodness
Honestly, twiststyle, you have dowwnright inspired me. And put in words what I couldn't exactly pin down myself -- why I love not only making things and posting them up on Etsy (though I've made them for at least 10 years prior to Etsy), but enjoy the heck out of buying from other folks on Etsy. We do all share a philosophy, and that philosophy has to do with rejecting the overly corporatized world of commerce as we know it. I say, let's stay focused on our indie movement marketplace. Eventually, the fat cats will notice -- and acknowledge at the very least that the pendelum is once again swinging away from the status quo as they have defined it!
All in all, very well put, twiststyle. Your article is a wonderful manefesto for Independence Day on behalf of the Indie Craft Movement.
aprintaday
excellent post twiststyle! and i do agree with your summation of things.
and LOLs on the crocheting automobile comment. i would love to see that.
though i have seen crocheted auto seat covers :P
thistlehillglass
I think we'll see a continued move towards DIY, as our political and economic systems have gutted the poor to benefit the extremely wealthy. Bartering, doing more with less, DIY -- all responses not only to the soullessness of our plastic, petroleum based economy, but to the realization that those who control the government and economy just don't give a damn about us. Viva la revolucion.
radicalrags
This is an interesting article and I enjoyed reading it.
I would've liked to have seen an acknowledgement of the Indigenous Nations though. Who were already living in a world that they had built by their communities and with their hands. The history of America, crafty or otherwise, didn't begin when it was 'discovered' by white people.
xox
silentlanguages
ah, consumerism...
hopefully americans will start to flow more toward a DIY and home made products
shopgoodgrace
quirkybags
This is an interesting, although romanticized, perspective of American history. I would love to see citations for the sources you used when researching this article.
KungFuCowgirl
BibBon
That was a great article! I feel like such a rebel now, feels good!
ttgart
Wow...perhaps a bit of time spent reading Zinn's A People's History of the United States. I don't recognize the country your describing, I wish did.
Would love to see the country turn to a more local community based society though, which does encourage the individual artist and craftsperson.
jenNco2
ArgyleWhale
genevievedietz
teamzvonik
"They forgot that buying hand thrown pottery dishes to eat off of, not only keeps an age old art alive, it fulfills someone’s creative drive; it helps SOMEONE ELSE to support their family."
I think this may be the most important point you make in this piece- to build community we MUST be interested in the welfare of others!I
If something is created in the spirit of unity and equality, it is a worthy contribution. Intentions are everything. I believe your writing is a worthy contribution. I am grateful that you braved the criticism and put your thoughts out there for me to ponder!
Sallyent
That's a really well thought through and well written piece. If anyone's interested it's this sort of thought and lifestyle choice that forms the basis of a big project I'm setting up over here http://www.ukdiycraft.blogspot.com
akat
CrowbirdieBeads
I loved this article! It's concise and uplifting, and makes me feel proud to be on Etsy.
Thanks Twiststyle.
-Lauren
funkydevaz
Wonderful article...what I have believed for a long time. While other mothers were running down to the local mall, I was sewing my daughters clothes and knitting for myself and family, growing and canning my own food. It seems the time has come to be self sufficient, Our eyes are being opened. Thanks for the prompt Twiststyle
BigSkyDreamer
Please keep writing. You have a gift of communication that "hits the mark". Your reader's comments are encouraging also. We are resourceful. Thank You Twiststyle.
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