I was driving home this evening and caught a glimpse of this new world. One of the largest buildings I have ever seen dedicated to the distribution of goods, sold online. Click, choose, check-out and you shall receive. I thought to myself, how sad.
Trust me, I get it (online shopping) convenience is top of mind, there’s super-saver deals and the dopamine hit can be unmatched. Since the early 2000’s it appears there is a smaller window of patience that has slowly bestowed us all, even myself.
I enjoy the tactile qualities in-person shopping brings, the brief though sometimes memorable chat with the sales person and the ability to use my own judgement to confirm the quality of an item instead of referring to star stamped reviews by individuals I do not know.
Older pieces that are not new have a different purchase process. You always have to do a once over on them yet this can be so fun and gratifying. The more imperfections a piece has the more beautiful and authentic in can be! The more eye wondering that is required, the better. Every stroke of a finger or movement of the hand can shape a piece to become its very own creation, original self.
Machines can print and a blueprint will create the path for reproductions but there is nothing like perfect, imperfections. Straight copied lines aren’t as interesting.
I challenge you to look around at all that we have created and by we I mean humans, by hand or with minimal interference by mass production tips, tool & techniques. Craftsmanship prevails and then all of a sudden those popular, gimmicky, lower quality (break tomorrow) pieces don’t look as appealing or convenient.
The more online shopping takes over, the less community shops there will be. The more the focus is on same-day shipping the more the likelihood that the quality of what we receive, will go down. The more we start using self checkouts the more local jobs we will lose. I am not saying lets go back to the old days all I am relaying is a fulfillment centre to me, is really not as fulfilling as it seems in the grand scheme of things.
pieceandquiet.ca 