Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Illustrator Documents Her Shopping for the Last 6 Years by Drawing Her Everyday Purchases

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 03:56 AM PST

From everyday groceries to household appliances and rare souvenirs, artist Kate Bingaman-Burt, from Portland, Oregon, keeps track of everything she buys by making silly drawings of something she purchases every day. She started this habit six years ago and has since then published two volumes of a book on the topic, called Obsessive Consumption – What Did You Buy Today?

Kate Bingaman-Burt is an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Portland State University, but she’s also interested in modern consumerism. In 2002, she started documenting her shopping by photographing everything she purchased, and continued doing so every day until 2004. Then, she decided to combine her artistic talents with her interest in everyday consumption by replacing the photos with drawings she did herself. For the last six years, she has been making drawings of at least an item she buys every single day. The six years of the project have been compressed in two volumes of a book entitled Obsessive Consumption – What Did You Buy Today? published by Princeton Architectural Press, but can also be viewed online, on Kate’s official website.

Asked what inspired her to start drawing her everyday shopping, in an interview with TIME, Kate Bingaman-Burt said:

I started this project as a break from another project where I was drawing all of my credit card statements by hand. The credit card project was not fun, but that also was NOT the point. Making work about consumption and personal consumption especially is a big theme throughout my work: drawing the mundane items that we all purchase everyday just seemed like a natural next step. I also felt uncomfortable drawing objects, and drawing an object every day was the perfect way to get more comfortable with drawing. I started making work about personal consumerism around 2002 when I started photo documenting all of my purchases and then I created a brand called Obsessive Consumption to serve as the umbrella for all of my consumption projects to fall under.

Prior to my work about consumption, I worked as a designer in the home gift industry (candles, fancy foods, potpourri etc). Attending trade shows was a regular event for me, and I was really engaged by watching what people would buy or not buy, so I started thinking about my own purchasing patterns and impulses and the storytelling that people engage in over objects.

Obsessive Consumption has gone through many phases (photo documentation, installations, credit card and receipt drawings, sewing and lots and lots of object drawing), but it has always been about everyday objects and investigating why we buy what we buy, and what it says about us.

 

 

 

 

Source: Messy Nessy Chic

Illustrator Documents Her Shopping for the Last 6 Years by Drawing Her Everyday Purchases was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Tianducheng – A Small Piece of Paris, Made in China

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 01:45 AM PST

It appears that the Chinese have tired of imitating objects, so they've now moved on to entire cities. How else could you explain the gated community of Tianducheng, that boasts its very own Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and European-style villas? Located near Hangzhou, the capital of the coastal Zhejiang province, the community built by real estate company Zhejiang Guangsha Co. Ltd. in 2007 is a housing development meant to attract China's rich and powerful. The developers apparently wanted to give the wealthy Chinese a chance to enjoy European culture without actually having to travel thousands of miles.  It took five years of meticulous construction and landscaping to create the entire 19 sq. km (12 sq. mile) community.

According to Lu Xiaotian, the company's director, "The community can house up to 10,000 people comfortably." Apart from the obvious touristy feel, the community also provides amenities ranging from a school, a country club and a hospital. All this, in the midst of the serene surroundings of a park atmosphere. The real estate group has largely capitalized on the fact that Chinese honeymooners tend to flock to Paris, and also that French designer labels and wine are popular status symbols in major Chinese cities. So the community of Tianducheng gives residents the opportunity to sit on the steps by their very own Bassin de Latone, a cleverly done imitation of the famous fountain located in the gardens of the Palace of Versailles. They can also admire the Eiffel Tower, which is a 108 m high replica of the 324 m original, in their very own neighborhood. Apart from the obvious imitations of famous monuments, there are the Parisienne-style gardens surrounded by rows and rows of European-style villas.

Photo: mdnphoto.com

For all its architectural genius, there is very little information available today about Tianducheng. The last known population of the community was about 2000, way back in 2007. This might be due to the fact that it is only a part of a string of such theme-towns in the area. Thames Town, located nearby and opened in 2006, is a little London with Georgian and Victorian-styled terrace houses. It had even managed to cause a minor uproar of sorts when the English publican Gail Caddy accused the town of replicating Lyme Regis, her pub in England. Italian and German-inspired towns are also said to exist in the vicinity, and the last we heard was that a Chinese firm was planning to recreate Dorchester, the village that inspired novelist Thomas Hardy. Not too long ago, a replica of an entire Austrian town was unveiled in the Guangdong province. The $940 million project allows people to explore exact replicas of the architecture and streets of Hallstatt, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Looking at pictures, it is quite hard to tell between the original village and its imitation. Again, there was controversy involved with this project when the Chinese real estate developers did not bother to inform the residents of Hallstatt of their counterfeiting plans. According to a hotel owner, Monika Wenger, "They should have asked the owners of the hotel and the other buildings if we agree with the idea to rebuild Hallstatt in China, and they did not."

Photo: mdnphoto.com

Despite all the attractions that life in Tianducheng has to offer, the truth remains that it is more of a ghost town sinceno one except the super-rich can afford to live there. The main reason behind its construction is actually to promote GDP growth in the nation – which is said to be the government's number one priority. So for now, it seems that Tianducheng is only popular  as a backdrop for newlywed couples to use in their wedding photos.

 Photo: mdnphoto.com

 Photo: mdnphoto.com

Tianducheng – A Small Piece of Paris, Made in China was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

The Religious Serpent Handlers of Appalachia

Posted: 10 Jan 2013 12:07 AM PST

You would think that handling snakes is an activity limited to the snake-charmers of India. After all, the handling of such venomous creatures is naturally associated with the mystical cultures of the East. But you will be surprised to know that the practice exists in the U.S. as well, and has been present here for the past 100 years. 'Snake handling' or 'Serpent handling', as it is called, is a religious ritual followed in a small number of Pentecostal churches in the U.S., with origins in 20th century Appalachia. The belief behind the practice dates back to antiquity, and followers quote the Gospel of Mark and Gospel of Luke for support:

And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. (Luke 10:19)

Photo via Patheos

The non-denominational movement today is known as the 'Church of God with Signs Following'. It has about 5,000 followers in four Appalachian states in the U.S. One such church involved in the practice is the Church of the Lord Jesus in Jolo, West Virginia, where serpent handling is legal. The followers of this bizarre practice were in the news a while back, following the death of Mark Wolford – one of its most well-known supporters. He was bitten by his own yellow timber rattlesnake during a serpent handling event near Bluefield, West Virginia. Surprisingly, he refused medical help at first, which caused him to suffer a long-drawn out death that lasted 11 hours. Wolford followed in his father's footsteps, who died in 1983 from snake bite when Wolford was only 15 years old. The death of Wolford, however, is no deterrent to pastor Harvey Payne of the Church of the Lord Jesus, nor his brother David. "My life is on the line," declares Pastor Payne, during service.

Photo via Patheos

The church is of the belief that a constant battle exists between good and evil. So by handling snakes, consuming snake venom, and speaking in tongues, they are actually fighting the devil through the 'signs'. The followers of this church are quite aware of the dangers of what they are doing. In fact, many of them have been bitten several times, and expect this to happen. They view being bitten as a reminder of the danger that they have chosen to face. If they are true believers, they would not die from a snake bite. And death by a bite is only proof that their time is up. This isn't a way to tempt the will of God, they say, but to confirm their own submission to the Bible as the Word of God.

The tradition of serpent handling is said to have originated in 1909, when the practice was introduced to the Church of God in Cleveland, Tennessee, by George Went Henseley. He is believed to have performed rapturous services in the dense hills of the Appalachian Mountains, believing the literal interpretation of the verse of Mark in the King James Bible. Henseley was bitten over 300 times himself.

Photo via Teenangster

Snake handling is only one of the activities undertaken by the Church of God with Signs, but is the one that has received widespread media attention. In the year 2000, an entire episode of the T.V. series, The X-Files, was dedicated to snake-handling worshippers. In real life, they not only handle snakes during worship, but also consume the deadly poison strychnine. Wolford, who died at age 44, had ingested about 2 gallons of the substance in his short life. He said of his experience, "Once you drink it, there is no turning back. All your muscles contract at once. Your body starts stiffening out. Your lungs; it's like you can't breathe." He also went on to state that if you seek medical help, it "means you're already starting to lose faith." Thankfully, some members of the church are spared from the religious serpent handling, including children.

 

The intensity of these practices leaves people dumbfounded, but there are those who understand what the tradition is all about. According to biblical scholar Bill Leonard, "Every time you come to church, it is a matter of life and death." Thomas Burton, professor of English and author of the book 'Serpent Handling Believers', says, "These people are not just religious fanatics; they're not strange people. They're members of the Holiness Pentecostal faith, and they are religious fundamentalists who believe the Bible is the inspired word of God that should be taken literally." Even the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes these religious practices as 'sincerity of religious beliefs.'

The Religious Serpent Handlers of Appalachia was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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