The Local Shop

Photos: Sven B Mueller

A shop created by a tourist, for the locals. Kardamyli Greece, August 2010.

In in summer of 2010 I opened The Local Shop as a one week intervention that encouraged the residents of a small Grecian village to imagining the tremendous potential of an abandoned bakery building located in the heart of their community. This shop looked and acted very similarly to the Tourist Shop across the street. Unlike the tourist shop which was a store made by a local for a tourist, the local shop did just the opposite of that. In this shop I displayed freshly cleaned and merchandised items, which were found in the abandoned building. I was unable to sell or give away any of the items in the shop, therefore The Local Shop provided “all the joy of shopping, without the burden of ownership.” As people went through the salvaged merchandise, they discovered parts of their own collective history. Customers were invited to fill out “Proposed Use Forms,” for items within the shop that they could imagine putting to use. I created an archive of these forms, within which various ideas are documented for how this cast-off garbage could find a second use within the community.

Project Text:

“Welcome to The Local Shop, our shop offers you all the thrill of shopping, but without the burden of ownership. We encourage you to browse, examine and visualize how you might use our items in your everyday life. Due to a legal dispute our items are not currently available for re-sale. Instead, interested parties are invited to submit a Proposed Use Form, which will be archived and later available to the rightful owner. The Local Shop is a place in which we invite the community to envision alternative futures for the things contained within this building, while at the same time bringing into question the position of ownership”

All our products are proud to be: “Locally found, and locally bound!”

In in summer of 2010 I opened The Local Shop as a one week intervention that encouraged the residents of a small Grecian village to take-back ownership by imagining the tremendous potential of an abandoned bakery building located in the heart of their community. Looking and acting very similarly to the Tourist Shopacross the street. Unlike the tourist shop which was a store made by a local for a tourist, the local shop did just the opposite of that. In this shop I displayed freshly cleaned and merchandised items, which were found in the abandoned building. I was unable to sell or give away any of the items in the shop, therefore The Local Shop provided “all the joy of shopping, without the burden of ownership.” As people went through the salvaged merchandise, they discovered parts of their own collective history. Customers were invited to fill out “Proposed Use Forms,” for item within the shop that they would like to use. I created an archive of these forms, within which various ideas are documented for how this cast-off garbage could find a second use within the community.