Things (or less) 2021
Things (or less) examines our addiction to buying and owning things.
Do we even know how many buckets or forks we own? The rise of consumerism during the past 100 years has not only made us buying more and more, but it also has devaluated what we already own. No matter how new our things are, there is always something newer, better or more cool already waiting around the corner. Everything we have, outdated almost as soon as we buy it.
Through buy-and-discard behaviour waste mountains grow, resources are depleted and the whole biosphere, nature on which we ourselves depend, suffers. But can we even change?
This project tries to fall in love with things we already own. It attempts to see things not as something that merely serves our needs or desires, but as shapes, materials, objects in their own right and in various and new contexts. And not all contexts have to relate to us. Does a term like “objects of desire” tell about objects - or rather about us? Is there a better way to look at our surroundings than through the lens of our desires and needs? Is it possible, by giving attention to the things around us, to shape our perception of the world, to make us more empathic regarding the non-human sphere? This project invites to reflect on these topics.”
Do we even know how many buckets or forks we own? The rise of consumerism during the past 100 years has not only made us buying more and more, but it also has devaluated what we already own. No matter how new our things are, there is always something newer, better or more cool already waiting around the corner. Everything we have, outdated almost as soon as we buy it.
Through buy-and-discard behaviour waste mountains grow, resources are depleted and the whole biosphere, nature on which we ourselves depend, suffers. But can we even change?
This project tries to fall in love with things we already own. It attempts to see things not as something that merely serves our needs or desires, but as shapes, materials, objects in their own right and in various and new contexts. And not all contexts have to relate to us. Does a term like “objects of desire” tell about objects - or rather about us? Is there a better way to look at our surroundings than through the lens of our desires and needs? Is it possible, by giving attention to the things around us, to shape our perception of the world, to make us more empathic regarding the non-human sphere? This project invites to reflect on these topics.”
