Vladimir Arkhipov’s “Home-Made” (Amazon link) presents objects made by ordinary Russians inspired by a lack of immediate access to manufactured goods during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Each of the more than 220 artifacts is accompanied by a photograph of the creator, their story of how the object came about, its function and the materials used to create it.
The book is expensive, but you can find some pictures and stories here, here, here, here and here. Related (but the Soviets obviously had better materials): Jailhouse Technology.
Forum
Arkhipov continues the reach of his project through his multilingual Folk Forum website where anyone is free to post examples of hand-made objects. The website is not very user-friendly (tip: start by manipulating the layers), but it hosts some great ideas and pictures (some of them below).
Thanks, Caroline!
More pictures at the Folk Forum website.
