CPI: Food, Fuel and Housing Costs, 1960-92

Until about the 1970's it was possible to live cheaply in the U.S., which accounts for the long and productive careers of many American artists, like Marsden Hartley and Arthur Dove, who sold relatively few works but were still able to pursue their vocations. My own experience in the '60's was similar. Then everything seemed to change.
'CPI" is made of 32 layers of 3/4" basswood, each ovoid layer representing one year. The dimension of the vertical axis of the ovals was determined by the annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food for that year, and the horizontal axis by the CPI for gasoline plus electricity. The rising line through the center of the sculpture is based on the CPI for housing. Dollars are constant: 1984-86 = 100.
The long, flat 'snout' represents the 1960's when housing costs and food (per my memory) were steady and low. Fuel got slightly more expensive over the decade but the big blowup occurs at the area of the large bulge above the snout. That's 1973, OPEC, gasoline lines, the whole mess. Thereafter the price of oil stayed relatively high, and with it the price of food (fuel for trucking, fertilizers) and housing (heating oil, insulation).
This greatly oversimplifies the history but accords with, and partly explains, my own esperience.