Flat-pack furnishings emporium IKEA has tapped several artists to spearhead the next installment of its Art Event collection, following its collab with Virgil Abloh last year. The 10-piece capsule of lamps, clocks, and vases aims to make contemporary art furnishings more accessible via affordable pricing ranging from around $26 to $70.
One of the more notable pieces comes from contemporary American artist and former Dior collaborator Daniel Arsham. For his IKEA debut, fans of Arsham's petrified twentieth-century media artifacts may have been expecting some kind of disintegrating chair from the future. Instead, Arsham has designed a clock that appears to be literally flying through time while shrouded in a white sheet.
The unstoppable passage of time is a theme found throughout Arsham's oeuvre and was even applied to a pair of aging Dior Air Jordan 1s at the end of last year.
In addition to Arsham's airborne timepiece, Japanese design studio Gelchop has turned to a fundamental icon of the IKEA brand — the Allen key – for inspiration. Gelchop rendered the handy tool as a lamp made from anodized aluminum, to be propped against a wall to emit a soft light from hidden LEDs.
Lighting and ambiance fanatics will be pleased to know that a gashed sconce (lighting fixture) has also been prepared by artist Sabine Marcelis. The rounded lighting fixture will glow from the edges in five different colors ranging from muted yellow to neon pink. Elsewhere, vases and a throw arrive emblazoned with various graphic slogans from Stefan Marx.
Lastly, fans of Zeitgeist-y tech dystopia vibes in their home may be interested in a series of "captured" drones that are presented as natural history museums display a rare case of butterflies, which comes from art duo Human Since 1982.
The IKEA Art Event Collection is due for release later this year.
