// IKEA Museum - Artists in Residence
IKEA HACKED by LUCAS & LUCAS
___ IKEA Products. Our Ideas.
The exhibition IKEA Hacked at the at IKEA Museum in Älmhult (Sweden), showed works by international artists, architects and designers – all using IKEA products as raw material. LUCAS & LUCAS were part of the exhibition as Artists-in-Residence from July 23 to August 19, 2018.
In their temporary workshop in the museum LUCAS & LUCAS produced a variety of hacks. Inspired by the wooded countryside of south Småland, they explored the phenomenon of mutating. The result: a series of objects made with IKEA products, that seem to have a life of their own.
The exhibition IKEA HACKED at IKEA Museum runned from April 28, 2018 to March 24, 2019.
IKEA Museum, Ikeagatan 5, 343 36 Älmhult, Sweden
Photo's by Lucas & Lucas
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Used IKEA products: IKEA catalogues, IKEA pencils, NORRÅKER dinner table, NORRÅKER stool
Ways of mutating: Decrease – Increase / Aging – Wearing out
Does the addition of something that is ‘for free’ decrease or increase the value of design?
What do we perceive as valuable: the costs of the used material, sustainability, the amount of manual labour we put in, the idea behind the design or just the way the design looks?
Does furniture have a best before date, regardless of whether it goes out of fashion?
In the case of the Best Before Table, the legs will age and wear out over time. After one year, probably around the time the new IKEA catalogue is introduced, the old catalogues have to be replaced with new ones. This means that the tables will be revalued with free products from the IKEA store every year.
__A light object that looks like it grew out of proportion
Used IKEA products: TERTIAL desk lamps, MARIUS stools
Ways of mutating: Bolting / Overproducing / Raising / Breeding / Fostering / Progressing
Due to a drought period or too much sunlight, some plants prematurely produce an unwanted flower stalk. The result of this process is that the stem grows too tall too quickly, and never becomes ready to harvest. The Dutch word for this phenomenon is: ‘doorschieten’. Wikipedia translates this word as ‘bolting’.
At the IKEA store we found the TERTIAL desk lamp, a perfect product to ‘bolt’. We started experimenting and fitted as many arms of the desk lamp together as possible. Eventually we choose to use only 5 TERTIAL lamps, and put them in a circle, like a flower.
Because we were growing an object of MARIUS stools at the same time, we decided to use a part of that installation to display the Bolted Lamp. Now, the stools on which the object is attached serves as soil, and the electricity cables resemble the roots of this plant.
Chair of Drawers
__A stack of 8 chairs with drawers under the seat becomes a chest of drawers
Used IKEA products: NORRÅKER chair, MAXIMERA drawer, BESTÅ drawer mat, VÄXER cultivation light, TILLSLUTA storage box, FRAKTA loading strap with buckle
Ways of mutating: Adding function / Multiplying / Bringing to life
‘Welcome to the world’s smallest ideas - Small ideas are about finding and using hidden spaces and choosing furniture that does more than one thing. It’s about being creative, a little rebellious and doing what you dream about no matter how much or how little space you have. And we think that is a pretty big idea.’
_IKEA
The space under the seat of a chair can be considered as ‘empty space’. IKEA’s ‘World of Small Ideas’ inspired us to turn it into storage space.
We hacked 8 NORRÅKER chairs by placing a drawer under the seat. Stacked together they become a Chest of Drawers. Whenever you need a chair, you simply take one from the top. The bottom chair has a built-in growth lamp and a container. It grows vegetables by itself, as if it is a living organism.
Overgrown Object
__An object made of stools whose legs have grown out of proportion and have become intertwined as invasive plants. A pedestal for plants to grow abundantly and proliferate until the object is not visible anymore.
Used IKEA products: MARIUS stool, RÄCKA curtain rod, HEMMA cord set, LUNNOM LED bulb, KOPPLA extension cord, BITTERGURKA hanging planter, SNOBBIG place mat pink, FEJKA artificial potted plant
Ways of mutating: Proliferating / Overgrowing
In Sweden nature is left alone by man. While people in the Netherlands try to keep things under control, here nature gets the opportunity to show itself in full glory. This inspired us to create an object that looks like it grows abundantly by itself. We started by randomly attaching MARIUS stools to each other. Eventually, Dutch as we are, we decided to take back control and turned the object in a pedestal that is made to become overgrown by plants. An object which looks beautiful and well thought through: neatly pushed back into the straitjacket.