I’m pretty excited that a retrospective of artist...

About

Your daily source of inspiration for creative reuse and mindful consumption.

Join us on Facebook and Pinterest, too.

We welcome your tips, suggestions, and feedback. Contact: unconsumption@gmail.com

[Background on, & press coverage of, Unconsumption can be found here and here.]

Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like Freecycle (or Craigslist, Goodwill, or Salvation Army) to find a new home for the functioning DVD player you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of turning off the lights when you leave the room.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Founder & Editor: Rob Walker, journalist, Savannah, GA

Editorial & Community Manager: Molly Block, marketing and business development geek, Houston, TX

Brian W. Jones, designer & writer, Göteborg, Sweden

Kashvi Kumar, Environmental Studies and Economics major at New York University

Deirdre Nelson, ever threading artist, Glasgow, Scotland

Shanna Trenholm, writer. catalyst. force of nature. San Diego, CA

* * *

Alumnus & Unconsumption logo creator: Clifton Burt, graphic designer, Portland, OR

Further information about Unconsumption can be found here.

12:54 pm - Tue, May 22, 2012: 136 notes

I’m pretty excited that a retrospective of artist Tony Feher’s work is coming to Houston, to the Blaffer Art Museum, during 2012. New Yorkers can look forward to the exhibition, organized by the Blaffer, opening at the Bronx Museum in October 2013.

Like many artists we feature on Unconsumption, Feher sees beauty in everyday things.

“I think there’s beauty and importance and character in absolutely everyone and everything. A single pebble on a beach is as extraordinary as a mountaintop. I look for the ‘trick’ in materials, that indescribable something that allows me to exploit an object for my own purposes: a reflection of light, a color, a play of density versus transparency, a little something that sets it off.”

The materials Feher uses — bottles, jars, plastic bags, packing materials, coins, beverage crates — reflect our throwaway culture. He emphasizes arrangement over embellishment, allowing the items to transcend their intended purposes.

When you peel the label off a plastic water bottle, you don’t have the trapping of uniform or class that distinguishes it from others. You are rendered to this anonymous generic bottle. Some bottles are too loaded for me, ones that have an identity with the label off. It’s more that I am taking advantage of a thing that was there, and how it feels and what it does with light and condensation. That is what catches my eye, like a sparkly chip of glass on the street.

Quotes: top, via Des Moines Art Center, where the exhibition just opened; bottom, ArtSlant.

Photos: top and center (jars), via Box Vox; bottom, D’Amelio Gallery.