The Consume®econnection Project
The Consume®econnection Project was a year-long effort to meet the laborers and craftspeople who made anything and everything I bought - before I bought it.
Why? My work frequently pushed others for deliberate, considered, personal, buying habits. On the event of my 30th birthday, I launched into an experiment devised to put my money where my mouth was: become aware of my own dependence on blind consumption, and gain an understanding of the people and processes involved in making commodities available to me.
My intention was not necessarily to change what I purchased, but to change my level of awareness and participation in the acts. I was interested in knowing where a large, mass-produced object came from as I was in meeting local entrepreneurs and artists. It was about understanding the labor and encountering the people that made my life, my consumer life anyway, possible. Read more about the project. See the blog.
Video: Speaking about the project at the Interesting:NY Conference Sep 21, 2008
Jan 13, 1009: Interview on NPR's All Things Considered
♫ Knowing What You Buy - NPR.mp3
By Rebecca Sheir. Read the transcript on NPR.org