Whether it’s a new pair of shoes beckoning you from across the store, or you’re absolutely positive that dress will look just as good on you as it does on the model, I think most of us have had those moments where we have to consciously convince ourselves that we just. Don’t. Need. It. If this feeling rings a bell, then we have a feeling you’ll love illustrator Sarah Lazarovic’s ingenious idea to “cope” with this superficially daunting task: rather than purchasing various items, she paints them.
After pledging to stop shopping for clothes in 2012, the 33-year-old artist has “saved” around $2,000 in just six months from potential purchases–and has created some very beautiful and therapeutic works of art in the process. Claiming she bought too much “crap” online, Lazarovic decided to take action and created a 40-page visual essay with delicately painted images of coveted items alongside personal essays in which she explains how the internet has taken away the “magic” of shopping.
Rather than deny herself fully, the artist continues to allow herself to admire fashion pieces she enjoys, but has chosen to turn the “effortlessly obtainable crap” into “paintings in a gallery.”
She says: “I don’t need to own them to appreciate them I don’t need to wear them to appreciate them. I wouldn’t look good in a Rothko anyway. It would totally wash me out.”
While her project can certainly relate to all aspects of consumerism, Lazarovic pinpoints the rise of online shopping specifically as particularly “dangerous” for her. “If you walk into a store, you are forced to inquire about sizes, pricing and stock availability, which instantly makes shoppers think about the item and its benefits, or possible disadvantages, further,” she said.
Lazarovic also notes Pinterest as a big influence on her shopping impulses, saying “‘it’s so easy to pinpoint what you want on Pinterest and you don’t have to think about it, if you see something you like, you can just buy it.”
As she passes the halfway mark of her year long experiment, we’re left to wonder what her plan of action will be for 2013. While the project will officially end, Lazarovic plans on imposing stricter limits on her spending and will continue to use a bartering system she has implemented with her friends by swapping unwanted clothes or making items for one another. Check out the 40-page spread in its entirety here. Have you ever made a system or pledge to limit your spending?
Images courtesy of Daily Mail
