WHAT
The area I intend to research is consumerism and anti-consumerism. The consumer society is not just about businesses and consumers playing off each other, but society has constructed a system of consumerism, including a value system, an ideology, a credit system, a public system, a system of holidays, etc., creating a social system of consumerism that implicitly affects everyone. So I think the study of this issue is of some social significance. The precise question that I want to address is will people be able to re-examine their needs and desires in a society where consumerism is prevalent.
WHY
What consumerism has cost us? In a world where the information age has made life so much easier, satisfying our desires has become too easy and too fast, we can find ourselves surrounded by piles of things we don’t need, however, too much convenience has led to reduced capacity and increased demand, where the world of the consumerist game, we spent more time and attention than what we cost. Also, the prevalence of consumerism has led to environmental problems, with overproduction and over-packaging causing a steady rise in global carbon emissions, for example, the fashion industry contributes 10% of global carbon emissions, and according to the World Bank, some pollutants have allowed microplastics to start entering the human body.
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HOW
First of all, I conducted primary and secondary research. I began with an all-round analysis through stakeholders which conducted a data analysis for the survey of users group and a conversation with Dr Meng, a sociologist in China, we came up with that the underlying logic of consumerism is “Manufacturing needs”, that’s the reason that I want to make people re-examine their needs. Also, I interviewed two bloggers who live minimalism and maximalism lifestyles and conducted a case study on them. Then I am running an autonomous experiment for the feedback I got from my investigation. This is an ongoing work until the end of the project. Since the beginning of the project I have been collecting receipts to record every purchase I have made, each receipt will be attached to the shirt until the shirt is entirely covered by the receipts so that I can visually present the relation between the use-value and the exchange value. Thirdly, I intend to open a communication platform for those who need to exchange. This swap shop will welcome donations of unwanted staff and re-creations of waste and I will present my experiment and show the environmental hazards caused by consumerism. I also will contact The Centre for Circular Design at UAL and I hope to work with them and get some suggestions.
The methodologies present in my research are primary research and secondary research. I collected primary data through questionnaires and ran an experiment to help with the study of values and needs; documentaries and exhibitions as pieces of evidence for interventions. Analyze risks and challenges by using SWOT.
WHAT IF
The positive impact is the development of a circular economy and circular design if I achieve this mastery. Enabling both humans and non-humans to take the initial position as the agency in a consumer society, creates new connections to support people and the planet.