If you spend even 10 minutes a day on the internet, odds are you're used to being bombarded with things you want to buy. Whether you're scrolling past social media posts about must-have products or being haunted by ads for that thing you looked at last week, the pressure to buy is always on.
There are many ways to resist these messages, but recently, I came across an artist on Instagram who's found a unique method for curbing her spending urges. Noa Goffer is a 37-year-old illustrator based in Tel Aviv who channels her materialistic urges into making art which she shares on Instagram as her Wishlist.
I was fascinated with the project and curious if drawing the things that tempted her made Noa feel any differently about them. So, I reached out to her via email with some questions.
Noa explained, "The Wishlist is somewhat of a personal diary or an imaginary wallet, depicting my relentless desire for accumulating 'stuff,' which serves as a soothing strategy or therapy to ease my materialistic urges. It started off as a personal, humorous way of warming up and clearing my mind before working on my 'real' projects."
She also shared that she's even tagged some of the brands in her posts, but they have (in my opinion) very rudely failed to send her free merchandise. However, she's learned something even more important in the process. "I started publishing my Wishlist on my Instagram account and even tagged the brands I drew on Instagram, poking them to send me a gift. Sadly, I didn’t get a Dyson, but I was so moved by the comments I did get. People seemed to be deeply engaged and shared their own wishlists."
"It’s interesting and perhaps a little touching to understand how much of what we want to have is a way to define and distinguish ourselves from one another. And eventually to realize we’re all the same, we all have wishes and weaknesses as part of the materialistic world."
And even though a drawing of a stand mixer obviously can't be used to make a cake, Noa says that the process of making these drawings is "surprisingly similar" to actually buying them. "I am taking myself through the entire journey of desiring something, researching it on Google, skimming through user reviews, finding the best deals and even picking colors, ending in adding the product to an imaginary cart. By embedding the product in my journal, I get to feel that it is mine."
"Immersing myself in the product, activating my imagination, and transferring it from my sight to my hand makes the product pass through me in a way, and afterwards, my passion and desire are freed to be directed to the next product. The craving for brands and products that will change my life doesn’t stop, but at least, I’m saving some money. An accountant’s daughter, after all."
Noa shared how the project has made her think more deeply about how people use products and brands to brand themselves. "I think that through this project I gained several insights and learned just how much people are defined by the products and brands that they possess. It’s not just that this product changed my life, but it is also a Herman Miller, so you can see how fine my taste is. I want myself to be identified with the aesthetic values and the stature these objects carry."
"Every product I posted received immediate and enthusiastic responses, sometimes followed by recommendations of some other product that upgraded their lives and that I must have. I get the sense that this is a sign of these particular times."
Finally, Noa shared how these drawings have changed the way she thinks about buying products in general. "I also learned something about the process of consuming, about how much of it is about wanting and obtaining something, and not necessarily having it."
"It puts you up against some truth about the fluidity of this consumer centric world, and how although we are all aware of this lie, we still give into it occasionally. And while I supposedly transformed my desires to my quirky online scrapbook, they are never truly gone and are always still there, lurking, waiting for the next shiny object."
