September 5th, 2010 by Rachel | Tags: American Culture, Anthropology, Book, Consumption, Material Culture, Shopping | No Comments »
Obsessive Consumption depicts an illustrious narration of drawings by Kate Bingaman-Burt who tells the story of her consuming products on day-to-day basis. A 3.50-dollar calculator, a Scotch tape and dispenser, 99-cents fake mustaches, a six-pack of energy saving light bulbs, a wireless mouse from Apple, a Clorox spray, and a black diamond plastic ring are all examples of illustrations Bingaman-Burt presented for the viewers to see what she purchased. The items indeed vary from knickknacks to essential items to meet our ends needs.
The book is not only about looking at the drawings of Bingaman-Burt’s mundane life, but also giving second thoughts on what we purchase on regular basis. The materials that we consume are not always necessarily pieces of junk such as fake mustaches, but are served to ease our lives. Calculators allow us to work more efficiently when we’re working on our finances. Clorox sprays keep our homes germ free. Energy saving light bulbs provide us the necessary light when the sun is down. Also, perhaps junk items are not always useless – they can be served to comfort us in certain ways. For instance, a black diamond plastic ring can add some beauty to our personal appearance.
