Yahoo! Picks - bringing you the best of the Web since 1995

Everybody consumes stuff, but not everyone turns it into art like Kate Bingaman-Burt. When we reviewed her site in 2003, she was a typical grad student, except that she was chronicling every single thing she spent money on, from cups of coffee to fancy design magazines. She kept at it for a whole 28 months, only stopping when she finished her art degree.

But the obsessive documentation of her consumption didn't end for Kate, oh no. "The graduate school bubble had burst, and I was sitting on some pretty extreme credit card debt," she admits. So next, she started drawing her credit card statements, "like a penance for my sins. Ha!"

While racking up debt during school is pretty typical, sharing your bills online—even in a clever cartoon form—isn't. Kate explains her new direction: "People are embarrassed to talk about how much they make or how much debt they have. By sharing debt with other people it gives you more motivation to pay it off. By making it look less scary and maybe even fun it might encourage other people to think about their own debt and what they buy."

And what does Kate spend on? "My favorite stuff to buy would be a good score from a thrift store or maybe a good find for my husband or family or friends that I know that they would love. That sounded totally cheesy, but true." After years of tracking her spending and getting feedback on her web site, she realized that shopping isn't as big a thrill as some may think: "My consumption was pretty boring. It is still boring. A lot of people's consumption is boring." We apparently buy a lot more Sonicare toothbrushes and gallons of milk than we do flashy cars or high-tech gadgets.

With her quirky drawings and frequently updated Flickr stream, Kate's work holds up a gentle mirror to our obsession with shopping and acquisition. But she doesn't preach an anti-materialist viewpoint—"I am not lecturing people about spending and debt," she points out, "I am just wanting people to be more aware of what they buy."

Currently an assistant professor of graphic design at Mississippi State University, Kate also exhibits her drawings, photos, and installations in art galleries around the U.S. Plus, she writes about design and consumerism for various publications. "I have been pretty fortunate," Kate declares, "I love making work about consumption! I can really explore a lot of mediums and ideas under the umbrella of Obsessive Consumption. If I want to draw, I can draw. If I want to take a picture, I can take a picture. If I want to paint an entire wall and fill it with hand-drawn typography of my receipts for the month, I can do that too."

Will it ever end? Maybe as soon as America's obsession with consumption does... Kate ponders, "I keep thinking that I will get sick of this, but my list of things that I want to do is so long. I am lucky."

Dec 14, 2007
The Handlebar Club - Meet Steve Parsons, secretary of London's fellow hood of exuberantly mustachioed men, The Handlebar Club.

Dec 12, 2007
Online and Subversive - Meet David Rees, creator of one of the Web's most sarcastic (and profane) comic strips.

Dec 10, 2007
French Laundry at Home - Meet Carol, a passionate home chef bent on making every recipe in 'The French Laundry' cookbook.

Dec 07, 2007
The National UFO Reporting Center - Peter Davenport is the man behind one of the earliest UFO sites on the Web.

Dec 05, 2007
Little People - London's overrun with 'little hand painted people.' And the artist Slinkachu is behind it.

Dec 03, 2007
Mary-Kate, Ashley, and Erin - Erin Balser produces a popular blog on the Olsen twins -- as well as three other pop culture sites.

Yahoo!'s crack team of editors serves up the coolest, funniest, or quirkiest sites we encounter on the Web. Got a favorite new link of your own? Share it with us!