Quixoticgeek
Inspired by one of the questions in this week's #MakersHour. We need to talk about decluttering and minimalism. Cos it's really pissing me off how utterly oblivious to their privilege those who push these are. Not to mention some of the issues relating to the way Minimalism has entered our built environment.
Thread time.
(This thread is not aimed at the lovely people of makersHour. Please be nice to them).
1/n
LJ
@quixoticgeek LOL. I wrote a white on white apartment for a character in one of my novels as a way of showing how empty her life was.
Quixoticgeek
The home you live in says a lot about who you are. Your personality, your hobbies, your interests. Whether it's the climbing gear hanging in the hallway, or the hiking maps of the Pyrenees on the dining table, or the fantasy books on the shelf. It's part of who you are. All a white carpet and white sofa and absent shelves and empty walls tells us is? Is what exactly? You really like cleaning or can pay someone to clean for you ? I don't get it.
8/n
Quixoticgeek
I'm not sure how, but a while back I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of interior design videos. Around the time when the minimalism aesthetic was quite prominent. Watching those videos I felt cold. There was something about the houses featured in those videos, & I say house and not home intentionally, it just felt. Cold. Unwelcoming. Impersonal. Unloved. It made me wonder about the people who live there. What is their personality? Do they have any hobbies? Are they just their job & netflix?
7/n
Quixoticgeek
I have friends who went for the decluttering thing, with a big clear out and getting rid of possessions. And now a few years later, they are trying to buy back some of the books they got rid of. Fortunately they are financially able to do this. But it's not an enjoyable process. I hate to watch it, but there's nothing I can do. At the time or now.
So how does this fit in with minimalism the aesthetic?
6/n
Quixoticgeek
Now, I'm sure to get a small pileon from people telling me that there's a difference between having stuff, and hoarding. And they are right. Kinda.
Severe enough Hoarding can be a psychological condition, often with causes rooted in trauma responses. The thing is, for almost everyone reading this thread. That is not you. Having a lot of stuff is not the same as hoarding and should not be treated the same. Starting with, don't feel bad for having possessions. (Sorry Marx).
5/n
Quixoticgeek
If you do need it again you're in a financial position to require it. Yes I could probably throw away that 300mm off cut of wood left over from a project. But if I need a small piece of wood in future (quite likely), I'll have to buy a full length. Etc... I have a pile of "useful" packaging boxes sat on top of a cabinet. I could throw it all out, none of it cost me money. But if I need to post something, I'm going to need to spend money, and time to buy something. So the pile of boxes exists
4/n
Quixoticgeek
Does this item bring you joy? Was a tool she used when helping people organise their stuff. Yeah, turns out that question doesn't work when it comes to the electricity bill...
In a way this is tied to the fashion for minimalism as an aesthetic. Remember all those pictures of white homes with white furniture and very few personal possessions? The problem is in order to be able to throw something away you need to be either absolutely sure that you will never need it again. *OR* ...
3/n
Quixoticgeek
For starters. Note there's a difference between minimalism, and Minimalism. Not to mention that Minimalism movements in various arts (music, art, literature etc...). For the sake of this thread. I'm going to be concentrating on minimalism the aesthetic, and Minimalism the architecture. Oh and don't to be confusing Minimalism and Brutalism. They are not the same.
Decluttering really rose to prominence with Marie Kondo and her netflix series.
2/n
Peter Brown
@quixoticgeek suddenly now is not the time to be getting rid of books. Any books published from now on could be complete rubbish because they could be written by AI, so best to keep the old ones as at least they are accurate.
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