{"id":8395,"date":"2026-09-04T13:09:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8395"},"modified":"2026-09-04T13:09:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T13:09:39","slug":"the-economy-feels-broken-meet-the-south-bay-artists-fixing-things-themselves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8395","title":{"rendered":"The economy feels broken. Meet the South Bay artists fixing things themselves."},"content":{"rendered":"

As Americans struggle with affordability amid inflation and high cost of living, crafty hobbies and buying secondhand have been on the rise.<\/p>

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Some activists tackle wastefulness and high prices by promoting the \u201cright to repair,\u201d pushing for new laws to force manufacturers to make their products easier to repair and combat planned obsolescence.\u00a0Last month, agricultural machinery company John Deere settled with the Federal Trade Commission, agreeing to give people who buy their products the ability to repair them on their own. In Silicon Valley, some are keeping with grassroots \u201crepair cafes,\u201d where volunteers and community members gather to share tools and help repair electronics, clothing and other household items.<\/p>\n

Dimitri Diakopoulos, an expert blacksmith and woodworker at the School of Visual Philosophy in San Jose, has been helping people at the makerspace make and fix things. As a bladesmith and knifemaker, Diakopoulos makes all kinds of cutting utensils, leather knives, paring knives, kitchen knives and chisels.<\/p>\n

This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Why is it important to preserve craftsmanship?<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> It\u2019s really important because we have this philosophy of consumerism and the notion of disposable objects. Back in the days of yore, every town would have a blacksmith, a cobbler, a leather worker, and all of these crafts were not crafts; they were professions. They were people involved in making the community work. I think that philosophy has shifted a lot, given the digitalization of everything. The ability to fabricate and manufacture difficult objects has largely become computerized. You can have a factory make a million of these things, but you lose some quality in the process. You also lose the ability to customize. It\u2019s great for people to recognize that some of these artisans still exist in the world \u2014 you can commission them and have them be more like a collaborator on different things.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> How can the makerspace at the School of Visual Philosophy in San Jose be used to repair certain things that people need?<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> It comes down to community. You can use Google or AI tools to find out more about an object that\u2019s broken; maybe you can even get some steps or instructions about how to fix it. But you\u2019re not necessarily going to have access to somebody who has done these things before, who has worked with their hands. That\u2019s really hard to replicate digitally. What I find about this community is that you have a lot of experts who have honed their craft over time and also have access to the tools to practice that.<\/p>

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We\u2019ve had many examples over the years where individuals from the community come and ask to use the workshop for a very bespoke thing. For instance, I needed to repair my partner\u2019s leather sandal, and there is a leather worker here. I recall another instance where a community association for trail building had a very specific tool. That\u2019s not something you can really buy, but it\u2019s something they use for trail building. They came in and said their tools are actually wearing out and asked if we could fabricate some new ones.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> Why repair things in the world now? We have mass production. We\u2019ve moved to a mostly digitalized economy. Why should we even try to keep these skills alive when we could buy something off Amazon for cheaper?<\/p>

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A:<\/strong> Quality has a lot to do with it. When you repair things or have access to different objects in your environment, you gain a sense of the quality of a thing. People appreciate well-made objects \u2014 and a well-made object is usually something that can be repaired. Repair extends the lifespan of these objects because they\u2019re made out of materials designed for it. There are objects in this world that were made to last. If you maintain it and eventually repair it, it can outlast you.<\/p>\n

Also, just because something is cheap or somewhat disposable, that doesn\u2019t mean it can\u2019t be repaired. Wooden cooking utensils are a really great example of that. There\u2019s no reason to buy something new when all it needs is a coat of oil or a very light sanding.<\/p>

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Q:<\/strong> What resources would you suggest to someone to learn how to repair their own belongings?<\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Reddit is actually one of the most amazing communities. Reddit has so many subreddits around home repair. People just post photos all the time and you get a community of experts willing to give advice and even instructions on how you can repair something yourself or connect you with an expert or resources, like a YouTube tutorial.<\/p>\n