Reminiscent of the ‘Covid Crafting Craze of ‘20’ when faced with adversity Gen Z reached for crochet hooks and watercolour paints.
Brisbane has been left reeling after another flood, but not the one you might be thinking of.
In the latest in a series of outages, from power to the stock of toilet paper at all supermarkets within a 100-kilometre radius, popular e-commerce website Etsy is the latest victim of ex-Cyclone Alfred’s tediously drawn-out wrath.
Etsy, best known for its handmade trinkets and craft projects, went dark this morning thanks to an unprecedented influx of amateur art projects uploaded to the site. Wonky knitted scarves, lopsided crochet bucket hats, and paintings tagged as “abstract” (which we understand to be code for “astoundingly average”) were uploaded in their thousands. A representative from Etsy remarked that not since the first Covid-19 lockdown had they seen website traffic like this.
The Obiter’s economic analysts enlisted a team of Anthropology doctoral candidates from The University of Queensland to make sense of this bizarre but increasingly correlative relationship between crises and crafting.
“We’ve observed this trend becoming gradually more pervasive in adults responding to public emergencies” explained anthropologist Homer Sapien. “Our theory is young adults who spent formative years consuming hours of ‘LaurDIY’ and ‘5 Minute Crafts’ videos have developed subconscious neurobiological instincts to do arts and craft in times of great distress, as a means of mental self-preservation. Not to mention, carefully curated Instagram stories featuring half-painted canvases and homemade Aperols give them the dopamine hits they’re missing while the pubs and clubs are shut.”
“So rather than traditional survival instincts where one might be compelled to gather food, medicine and batteries, our Gen Z colleagues instead feel a strong urge to forage for glitter glue and 2-for-1 yarn at Spotlight.”
Whilst this story might seem light-hearted on its face, the anthropologists expressed some concerns for the future of humankind if these patterns do represent a genuine shift in biological survival instincts. “I’m not sure how well these young people will fare if all they’ve gathered is overpriced acrylic paints instead of…y’know…food? Let’s just hope their crafting plans include macaroni art, then at least they’ll have some dry pasta to munch on.”
Deep stuff.
