In this article, you'll learn about how you can support local artists and begin to lessen your own consumerism at the same time. One World Wallet is part statement against the brand, part social network, part product, and part art production house where you are part of the art.

Financially, many - if not most of us - have been pushed a little further than we wanted to be over the past decade. And the influence of branded items plays a significant role in creating demand for high priced goods. One World Wallet is a new project designed to bring some sanity into how we spend.

One World Wallet is part statement against the brand, part social network, part product, and part art production house where you are part of the art. It is wholly novel. It is a project of art label start-up This is Not A Brand and New York artist Jon Coffelt.

It's motto is: "Bring a little culture into your wallet and be known for how you spend rather than what you buy." The OneWorldWallet is an art-inspired, hardwearing wallet made from different colored duct tape. The big difference, apart from its colorful and artful appearance, is that this wallet comes with an array of downloadable artwork. And the project promises to keep the art coming.

"This is ideal for downturns in the global economy and as an antidote to what we've experienced over the past decade," says co-founder, gallery owner Haydn Shaughnessy. "This is a way to make a statement about how you spend. And it's a novel proposition. You buy our wallet and we'll keep giving you free artworks for as long as the project lasts."

On the OneWorldWallet website, you can buy the art-inspired wallet for all your spending needs and in return, you’ll receive a selection of free art downloads. The first download, a series of 8"x10" printable images, are made from a virtual wall of wallets constructed in Second Life.

As more people buy the wallet, more art is added to the virtual wall and the project can issue more art products. It will also create artwork from members' contributions to the OneWorldWallet social network via photo uploads, blog posts, and videos as interpreted by Coffelt. All this means that you are a part of the art and a constant beneficiary whether you want artwork for your home or to give away as gifts. All you do is download and print or download and take to a fine art printer.

Coffelt is a nationally known artist who has exhibited across the United States and is particularly known for his duct tape projects. Buy-in is fixed at $63, regardless of the art you download.

The artwork will continue to grow out of member contributions, and will be available digitally. It's an exploration of how social media will affect art and art economics as well as a social media network in its own right - and it's a collaboration with and between an artist and social network participants. It's an occasion to say "I'd rather buy from inspired people that I know or meet rather than from a corporation I don't."

Perhaps it's time to say no to brands and hello to a little more culture.

1 Euro per wallet sale goes to Amnesty International and their Universal Declaration of Human Rights initiative.

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