Obsessive Consumption: What Did You Buy Today?

by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Our daily lives are filled with consumption—$1.50 for a cup of coffee, $5.95 for a magazine, $17.99 for headphones, $1.79 for cough drops, $36.00 for a haircut. Whether bought out of necessity or indulgence, purchased alone or in a group, everything we buy has its own story to tell. We buy art supplies while feeling inspired, CDs while shopping with friends, and a new pair of jeans to give us a lift when we are feeling blue. Yet, these powerfully emotional experiences can be fleeting—quickly erased by the pull of the next "must-have" acquisition. In Obsessive Consumption, Portland-based artist Kate Bingaman-Burt holds up a mirror to her own obsession with shopping and acquisition. Faced with a mounting pile of postgraduation credit card debt, Bingaman-Burt concocted a unique artistic response to this all-too-common dilemma. She picked up a pen and began drawing her monthly credit card statements, painstakingly recreating every last ledger line and decimal point, vowing to continue serving her artistic penance until her debt was repaid. As a relief from this project—turning the idea of "retail therapy" on its ear—Bingaman-Burt began drawing one of her purchases from each day, losing herself in the items, patterns, simple lines, and typography.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Memoir, Biography, Art Design, Design

206 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2010

Reviews

[karen]

omphaloskepsis times two!!

seriously, i have reached the limit of my tolerance for cutie-pie hipsters who think they are the center of the ever-lovin' universe.

i am through.

little drawings of little things you bought every day?? not even good drawings?? and for this you get a book deal because you have a cutie pie little blog and probably have a lot of musician friends in williamsburg? oh, right, it is all dressed up in words: a commentary on consumerism and the community of objects. oh my god - shoot me, can't you? who cares that much about you and why is this book selling?? it enrages me!

and ohhh the confession, and you can almost hear the squeakiness "oh, sometimes i forced the project and bought things just cuz i wanted to draw them!" hee giggle squeak.

uggggg one more useless person creating useless "art" about useless things while some people can't afford food. awesome.

come to my blog!

[Stephanie A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you see on the cover is pretty much what you get: a series of colorful, aesthetically pleasing line drawings about objects and services a young woman has purchased from 2006-2009, sometimes with brief annotations. I spent at least an hour thoughtfully turning through the pages, pondering what was important to her and comparing it to my feelings about such things. The hints of her life that emerge, from the wedding to moving to her job, are just enough to get a taste of the person behind the things without overwhelming the intent to let the observer draw their own conclusions.

I'm not an artist, but otherwise, I took delight in our many shared tastes (namely clothing, thrift store items, magazines and animals). She also illustrates lots of delicious foodstuffs that gave me All The Cravings. She even makes mundane things like toothpaste or household cleaners seem novel and compelling when you actually stop to think about purchasing them. Best of all, the older this book gets, the more awesome I think it will be, as it morphs from a reflection of the modern day to a window into the past.

[Allie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty cool project. Starting in 2002, Kate Bingaman-Burt photographed everything she bought; and followed up that prject in 2004 when she started drawing all her credit card statements (and intends to keep drawing until they are paid off). The first drawing in this book is dated 2006 when she started drawing just one thing she bought every day. I like this kind of stuff a lot; I like projects documenting what you buy/wear/do/eat. I also like her style which is funny and has lots of clean lines that aren't terribly straight. The stuff she draws is mundane and relatable; which is not to say that I've also bought all the things she has, but that I can see why someone would. Artistic explorations about consumerism tend to be annoying, stupid, judgemental, or garish, but this is subtle and kind. She's not saying the things she buys are good or bad, they're just the things she buys and this is her way of thinking about it.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate Bingaman-Burt makes a drawing every day to document something she has purchased, and this book pulls together a selection of these drawings. I love the style and I love the colors, this is a really visually appealing book. Many of the purchases are small and mundane but also very relate-able, and these connections made the experience all the more fun - we like the same cereal! I am also always buying sunglasses! A voyeuristic but entirely enjoyable look at personal consumerism.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is charming, fun and funny. Once in a while I need a change up from my usual reads and this served its purpose. In the end you want to find the author immediately and buy her a cup of coffee or a beer and a snack. There's a new journal called What Did I Buy Today: An Obsessive Consumption Journal that is illustrated by the author. I love it and it's helping me curb my spending!

[Kassie]

A fun art library read that I picked at all day - mostly drawings but definitely some fun details when you pay attention. It made me think about all of the little purchases that happen outside of 'big shops' and how easy it is to let consumption really run away from you.

[Parka · Rating 4 out of 5]

(More pictures on my blog)

Obsessive Consumption started out as a blog and turned into a book. It collects the sketches of items purchased by Kate Bingaman Burt over 4 years since she's been drawing them.

It's like a diary of purchases. These are simple line drawings that are sometimes quite scary to look at, especially drawings of credit card bills. It's also a good reflection of the things we buy, and of how much things we buy.

The author does buy a lot of different items and my only question is where she puts all those stuff.

It's a fairly amusing book to look through.

[Vovka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clever art project consisting of one item drawn per day from the things the artist purchased that day. It's interesting to put together a portrait of the author based on the drawings, and even more interesting to see how the author's tastes change as she moved to Portland, Oregon. For example, "Miller High Life" is the author's favorite beer when she lived in South Carolina (if memory serves) but that sub-par beer is given the boot by the time the author's re-homed in Portland because no self-respecting Portlander would drink a beer like that unironically. The project is a fun study on a bunch of questions; I only wish it had covered more years. Too short by half.

[Justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely an easy read, considering it's all hand-drawn pictures with captions underneath, but it was insanely interesting. Comforting to see that other people buy as much crap on a daily basis as I do (and spend way more money doing so)... and just interesting to see how much you can gather about a person based on their purchases.

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable - a picture book for adults, but got a little old after awhile. Did not breeze thru the last half of the book like the first.

[Melanie Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good project as much as I love doodling and seeing what others write and create. I had first learned about the artist while watching her wonderful (on-demand/streaming) course about drawing a few years ago where she mentions this project in one or two of the lessons. While rewatching it recently, I thought to check on her books and happily discovered this one.

I'm close in age to the author, and I found myself nodding my head and remembering many of the items she described as part of her daily routine back in the aughts, from the receipts for renting videos at Blockbuster to the cost of clothing, shoes, groceries, toiletries and cosmetics, office supplies, plane tickets, and junk food back in the day.

Speaking of cost, the book covers items the author purchased daily from early 2006 to February 2009, so thumbing through the illustrations and captions is like revisiting an earlier era/unpacking a time capsule--every item made me stop to think about how much more it costs now or to remember where I was in life when I purchased similar things.

I think readers of all generations would enjoy this book, especially if you are interested in books about personal projects, books about drawing, well-designed books (fonts/ink of various colors are used to denote chapters/inventories of items from each time period, opening with green and then blue and yellow chapters, etc.), and books that explore themes of why we buy what we buy at various stages of life. My only caveat is that the yellow ink pages can be a little unfriendly on my eyes, but that might just be a me thing.

This book has a beating heart and a sense of humor as well. I enjoy its style. It's a good reference for inspiration for art-makers and creatives. I like it.

[Laura Ghitoi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked going through this, it felt like a little time capsule of Obama tshirts, Mad Men when it was still running and lower prices for most stuff! It's a quick read since it doesn't imply lots of text, but I found it pleasant. I am curious whether in the light of recent years shopping patterns have changed (as in less plastic stuff, q tips etc.)

[Cameron Toney · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting project! To draw everything she bought, both to focus on her art and to focus on her spending. Really neat!
Also, what a blast from the past. I remember those owl studs, the twee Portlandia style of the early Aughts. And considering I just paid nine dollars for eggs, the prices made me gnash my teeth in envy.

[chloe]

Such an interesting project! The author drew the things she bought over the years. Not only is it fascinating as a perspective on consumerism, but I think it would also be a fun way to catalogue your life in a journal. It serves as a time capsule over the years. Really cool!!

[Ronit Pandya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the concept of this book, that just be obsessed on one particular concept and built your art around it. It's more than just the art. It's more about storytelling and compiling, documenting mundane details. Worth a read.

[Tori Schroeder · Rating 4 out of 5]

like an adult picture book!! things have gotten a lot more $$$ since 2006-2008… wish I could draw like this

[Nancy Zigler]

I really liked the idea of this book, and of course the zines posted online. As a big compilation, it was rich and inspiring, but easier to access in short form for me :)

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Bingaman-Burt pays penance by drawing all the things she's charged on her credit cards - sunglasses, coffee filters, french fries, diet Coke, shoes and a swan applique. The list goes on as her credit card debt rises. She even draws her monthly statements complete with her payment and interest rates. I'm fascinated with my fascination for Kate's mundane purchases. Oh what tangled webs we weave.

[Warren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fun project idea. Great art exercise. Good way to connect with and understand your own spending habits. Fascinating look into someone's stupid mindless consumerism. However, would rather have the details of how much she owed, analysis and feelings behind why she bought those items, and if she ever paid it off. Given the poor spending decisions, she deserved to be in debt. At least she was able to profit off it with this book.

[trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing. I wish I could see everything she drew/bought. The portrayal of the mundane, weird, and basic made me understand that perhaps my own issues of consumption just are. Less judgment, more awareness is what I need for myself.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not the highest-quality drawings, but it's really interesting to see what artist Kate Bingaman-Burt bought each day for three years. I especially enjoyed the quirky comments and creative ways of illustrating the prices. I could look through this book again and again!

[Elizabeth]

Charming PSU prof draws a picture of one thing she bought for everyday, from wedding bands to pepto bismol. Good stuff and she has a show at the Land Gallery on Mississippi right now.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great idea and cute drawings. Nice book to flip through.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Illustrated mundane-ness has never been so addictive! Full review: http://pikaland.com/2010/04/09/review...

[Bonnie G. · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a woman interested in the dynamic bw art commerce economics consumerism personal finance responsibility and fun, I loved it. ESP when she draws her credit card stmts

[Kelley Tackett · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinating. The author draws her credit card statement and then the items that she bought. I loved it.