May 2010
Turn On Turn Off
Shake your money maker Deep horizon
You buy it you draw it
This month we’re challenging you to draw everything that you buy. “Have you gone absolutely KE-RAY-ZEE over there at Otesha?” I hear you cry. Well, maybe.
Why? Because we want to get creative, we want to think before we buy and we want to make an artistic comment on our consumer-based society (call us high-minded).
We are taking our inspiration from the uber Kate Bingaman-Burt, author of Handmade Nation and creator of blog Obsessive Consumption – What Did You Buy Today? She has been documenting her purchases since 2002 and even drew all her credit card statements from 2004 until she became debt-free in February 2010. Blimey.
In an interview about her drawing quest she says, “Drawing my purchases is actually a lot of fun. Having the evidence of everything that I buy pretty much only confirmed things that I thought about my consumerism before: I need to eat better, I need to stop buying magazines so much and I need to think more about the purchase before buying (which I TOTALLY do now).” We can’t wait to make these discoveries for ourselves! So join us in some doodling this month and send us your creative endeavours (artistic skills not necessary). We will be uploading our sketches as the month goes along – what an insight into our personal lives, eh? Just go through the contents of our bins, why don’t you.
This time we have a proper prize to offer, Kate Bingaman-Burt has donated a copy of her new book Obsessive Consumption. You can win us over by sending old school or email copies of a collection of drawings, or single drawing. We will try not to judge you by what you’ve bought.
Moving on up
We’re packing our bags and bike trailers and moving on up to a lovely office just off Brick Lane (Unit 4 Huguenot Place, 17a Heneage Street, London E1 5LN). We’ll be sharing office banter and bagels with:
MyBnk work with young people to build the knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their money effectively and make enterprising choices throughout their lives. All of our programmes develop young people’s finance and enterprise capability through fun and interactive activities which put young people at their heart.
FoodCycle combines young volunteers, surplus food (retailers throw out millions of tons of edible food every year due to supply overstock) and free kitchen spaces to create nutritious meals for people affected by food poverty.
If you’ve got any excess furniture, plants, benches, crockery or anything else that a well kitted out office should have- we’re wide open to donations (contact info@otesha.org.uk).
Otesha seeks hosts
Have your very own cycle tour to stay for a night or two. They’ll entertain you with singing, dancing and tales of their travels. They’ll feed you vegan campfire food, tidy your house, dig your garden and generally make themselves useful . If you can host an explosion of bikes and happy campers in your house, garden, local school, village hall or community centre - get in touch (hanna@otesha.org.uk or 020 7377 2109).
We’ll be pedalling from Land’s End to John O’Groats this July and August. We’re looking for somewhere to rest our weary heads in Truro, Launceston, Gloucester, Newcastle, Pitlochry, Cambridge and Wick.
Ten tremendous daysSo you can’t join us on Land’s End to John O’Groats, maybe you’re too old, too young or too sensible to spend 2 months with a group of strangers. Maybe you don’t like camping or cycling. But you still want a bit of Otesha in your life?
The 10 day tour was made for you! This Autumn (September 24 - Oct 3) we’re putting on a cycle tour in partnership with the incredible 10:10 campaign, at the fabulous Fforest Camps in Wales. Expect interactive learning about sustainability, hands-on volunteering, inspiring speakers, fun & games, and loads of ideas on how to green up your home / office / neighbourhood / uni / gran- all in just 10 days.
Find out more and register to take part.
And finally
This month we’ve mostly been getting into the ecologist.
We’ve also been blogging about the election lots, the volcano a bit and Transport for London’s new Cycle Hire scheme (just the once).
Jo, Hanna, Liz, Edd & Mohamed
The Otesha Project UK
www.otesha.org.uk
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