Yesterday I walked down the Passeig de Gràcia, Barcelona. It’s a stunning avenue. It gives you the feeling that you are walking towards the sea, towards the beautiful Mediterranean Sea shore of my beloved Barcelona. Modernist buildings make this Passeig really really special and unique. But… hold on! If there wouldn’t be those buildings there, we could be EVERYWHERE. Strange… right? This feeling made me feel really sad.
So my Passeig de Gràcia isn’t really unique? Apart from those amazing modernist (and some neoclassical) buildings, the rest is pretty STANDARD. Yes, and shopping tourists are also pretty STANDARD. The Passeig de Gràcia could be any expensive shopping avenue in New York, Shanghai, Buenos Aires, Paris, Amsterdam…. Those expensive stores are in every big city. Those expensive stores attract the same type of public. Brands, logos, shiny objects and impecable showcases, luxury packing and standard glam.
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I went into one of the high end fashion stores just to observe. The store looked impeccable. Shiny and luxurious. However, when I realised that the shop assistant was staring at me I felt I was undergoing a constant “status” test or screening- from my toes to the last hair on my head. 🤦♀️ Have you tried to screen my brain instead?
What makes these brands so special? Is it the fabric/materials, the innovative design, the fact that everyone recognises the brand’s logo even from far away and that is equivalent to money and exclusivity? It’s in those moments when I would scream out loud to all visitors who walk down the X Avenue: HAVE YOU EVER HEARD OF WEARABLE ART? OF ART JEWELRY? OF HANDMADE COUTURE? WHY WOULDN’T YOU WANT TO SUPPORT A REAL ARTIST INSTEAD? Do you really want to be exclusive and unique? Then…. why do you buy all this? Wouldn’t it be nice to talk to the artist and understand his/her concept, statement or vision? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a piece of jewelry, an object, a dress, a suit … you name it…. that has been exclusively and manually created for you or that has a story behind? Wouldn’t it be nicer to purchase something knowing that it has been artistically and ethically created? Isn’t THAT luxury to you?🤔
Art has the power transform, to make us reflect and evolve. Marta Tamagit