DIY Culture

What Are We Seeking When We Make Things Not Available in Stores?

About this topic

The question 'What Are We Seeking When We Make Things Not Available in Stores?' deeply explores why, in an era where everything is available at 100-yen shops, Amazon, or Uniqlo, we deliberately make 'things that don't exist' with our own hands. It is not merely 'lack of practical items,' but perhaps we are seeking 'stories,' 'individuality,' 'attachment,' 'resistance,' 'self-expression,' or 'imprints of memory' that ready-made products lack. It re-examines the essential value that 'making' holds in consumer society—value that cannot be obtained through purchasing. Through the act of making 'something' not in stores, what we truly desire might not be 'things' but 'relationships' or 'ourselves.'

Conceptual positions

01 Narrative Seeking Theory

The position that we make 'something' not in stores to inscribe 'our own story' onto the object. Ready-made products are uniform and inorganic, but handmade objects become 'speaking objects' that carry the maker's life and intentions.

02 Resistance and Agency Restoration Theory

The position that we make as resistance to the passivity of 'just buying' in mass-consumption society. By making ourselves, we transition from 'consuming subject' to 'creating subject' and attempt independence from the system.

03 Self-Expression and Identity Theory

The position that seeking things not in stores is to externalize 'self-likeness.' Through expressions that 'only I can do'—unobtainable from ready-made products—we clarify the contours of the self and strengthen identity.

04 Relationship Building Theory

The position that the act of making 'something that doesn't exist' seeks not the object itself but the 'relationships born in the making process' (with family, friends, or oneself). It holds that true value lies in the time and dialogue of making, more than in the completed object.

Talk entry points

Is there something you made with your own hands because you felt 'this isn't it' with commercially available products? What kind of 'non-existent thing' was it?
When making something not available in stores, do you think you are seeking more 'sensation' or 'meaning' than the 'object' itself?
Was there a difference in the satisfaction after making between experiences where you made because 'it wasn't available in stores' and experiences where you made 'just because you wanted to make'?
What changes occurred in your life or way of thinking by making 'something' not available in stores?
If every object in the world were sold as 'your preferred commercially available product,' do you think you would still continue 'making with your own hands'? Why?
Do you think the act of making something not available in stores is 'resistance' against consumer society? Or do you think it is merely 'self-satisfaction'?

Conceptual tensions

Utility vsExpression

Tension arising between the practical motivation to make something not in stores 'because it is necessary' and the expressive motivation 'because I want to express myself.' Which is the essential desire, or are both intertwined?

Individual vsUniversal

Opposition between seeking the individuality of 'the one unique thing only I can make' and seeking the universality of 'universal value usable by anyone.' While commercially available products provide 'universality,' handmade emphasizes 'individuality.'

Possession vsRelationship

Tension between the desire to possess the completed object as 'mine' and the desire to value more the 'connection with someone' or 'dialogue with oneself' born in the making process. Do we seek relationship more than the object?

Consumption Critique vsConsumption Enjoyment

Self-contradiction arising between an 'anti-consumption' attitude that does not rely on commercially available products and a hybrid attitude of 'making only what doesn't exist' while skillfully using convenient commercially available products. To what extent do we 'resist,' and from where do we 'enjoy'?

Talk note

This theme provides a space for dialogue to deeply understand the act of making 'something not in stores' in consumer society, not merely as 'object-making' but as an 'act of weaving oneself and relationships.' It aims to together savor the joy of reclaiming through making 'time,' 'stories,' and 'self-transformation' that can never be obtained by buying.

Glossary

Commercially Available Products: Ready-made products mass-produced in factories and available for anyone to purchase in stores or online. Efficiency, uniformity, and convenience are maximized.
Narrative Quality: The 'circumstances of creation' or 'history of use' embedded in an object, the maker's intentions, and traces of failure. It possesses a unique background that commercially available products lack.
Making as Resistance: The act of making 'something different' with one's own hands as a small protest against mass-consumption and uniform society. It holds meaning in reducing dependence on the system and restoring agency.
Imprint of the Self: The traces of the maker's bodily habits, preferences, and thoughts left in handmade objects. Evidence of unique 'self-likeness' that can never reside in commercially available products.
Irreplaceability: The fact that the object 'could only be made by this person' or 'could only exist at this moment.' Uniqueness tied to time, place, and body that mass-produced items lack.

Talk prompts

Ice breaker

Please tell me just one experience where you made something seeking 'something' not available in stores. At that time, what kind of 'non-existent thing' were you seeking?

Deep dive

If the act of making 'something not in stores' was actually seeking 'your own story that only you can make,' how would you like to weave that story from now on?

Bridge

While the other person is saying 'I made it because it wasn't in stores,' listen while quietly imagining: 'What kind of 'your own ideal' was that 'non-existent thing' speaking about?'

Further questions

Might the act of making 'something' not in stores actually be seeking 'myself' that cannot be obtained from commercially available products?
Is the impulse to make 'non-existent things' connected to the childhood sensation of 'making treasures out of nothing'?
As mass-produced items approach 'perfection,' do we come to see value in 'imperfect handmade'?
Is making something not in stores ultimately an act of 'filling loneliness,' or an act of 'enjoying loneliness'?
In an era where AI instantly generates 'things tailored to you,' does the meaning of making 'non-existent things' by hand remain?
Through the act of making 'something not in stores,' might we be reclaiming 'time' that can never be obtained by 'buying'?