IKEA inspired exhibit in Columbus

Artist Jason Salavon takes inspiration for show from furniture company Ikea

COLUMBUS, Ohio — As a consumer, Jason Salavon has had the experience of putting together the sleek, affordable furniture of popular retailer Ikea. As an artist, he decided he’d rather break the Scandinavian company down.

Salavon created a collection of works inspired by the global home furnishings chain, whose typically mammoth blue and gold stores offer everything from build-it-yourself sofas to plates of Swedish meatballs.

The influence isn’t always obvious. One of the centrepieces of Salavon’s exhibition at the Columbus Museum of Art is a soft-bound booklet with nothing more than blocks of colours arranged in different patterns on each of its 374 pages.

It’s the artist’s version of the Ikea store catalogue, after a computer reduced each page of “Ektorp” model couches, “Svind” entertainment centres and other products to arrays of average colours. Large prints of some of the individual pages hang on the walls of the gallery.

“I’m interested in taking the known and abstracting it into some sort of new space,” said Salavon, 37.

“Currents: Jason Salavon” runs through May 4 in Columbus. The exhibit is scheduled at the Inman Gallery in Houston from May 30 through July 5. Duplicates of some of the pieces were displayed this weekend at the Art Chicago 2008 contemporary art expo.

More info: Columbus Museum of Art Exhibits Webpage

Scott Yager says:

Being a resident of Cincinnati, I obvioiulsy would like Ikea to come here… but I think that the I-71 land near Polaris is much more likely. Actually, I would just like to not have to drive to Chicago just to go to Ikea!

Scott sent this pic of Polaris in Columbus to show the land around that exit…

Hey Scott, like you I’d be happy with ANY IKEA we could score for the state, no matter were it goes.

I think we’ll have an answer soon. I have this on very good authority that Ohio has some very good news coming “very soon”. I’m still firmly sticking by the West Chester leads as the location of first Ohio IKEA. My source was very specific on that. Very.

I think we’re going to have good news in July… and that’s just a guess, so cross your fingers.

Columbus Dispatch

The wheel is still spinning from last week… Keen on Ikea.

Article is about location speculation, focused mostly on Columbus, but that’s where the paper is. But no new candidates are in there that haven’t been mentioned before. OKIKEA mention near the bottom.

Grandview Heights?

Thanks to a commentor’s tips I today called the Grandview Hieghts Ohio offices and spoke to someone in Development. When I said I was calling about rumours of an IKEA in his town he kinda laughed and went “where did you hear that?” and was rather surprised it had gotten out.

He did say it was “going around:” but there was nothing set at all, just that “groups” were looking. We talked about IKEA a bit, hwo far people will travel (I’ve done 6 hours) and he also seemed rather unaware of the traffic implications. “How much traffic can a furniture store get?” he naively asked.

I told him to Google it; that IKEA would bring a TON of people to thier town, and a ton of income as well, but unless they planned the traffic for overkill they would be yanking out their hair a year after opening. And when I said overkill I said plan on it being every rock concert and mall all at once, daily. and it might not be enough. Bring in the best traffic designers, it’ll pay for itself.

The traffic IS an issue, it will not get better, it will only stay constant. It’s an all year draw, and weekends are the worst.

All IKEA fans know it can tale a half hour to reach the parking lot from the last stoplight. Thats it could take another 15 minutes to find a spot located roughly in Canada. That IKEA is a at least half day affair. We do it anyway.

So - that’s the grandview angle, its not a “yes” but it’s certainly not an “no”, yet.

The reporter I spoke to on the phone said that there was talk of there being a bidding war around Columbus for IKEA to locate there. :::Crosses fingers:::

And if anyone from IKEA is reading this, I’d like to point your attention to the the poll on the right, 23% far and away the leader is “Between Dayton and Cincinnati on 75″.. come look at Union Center exit on 75 - Tell me you don’t see it with a big blue box on it. I know I do! Hey a girl can dream.

I just dream in cobalt and gold, and it all smells like meatballs.

Build it and they will come

Just did a phone interview with a Columbus area Business reporter (and fellow IKEA-ite) about the potential Swedish invasion.

He Googled for Ohio and IKEA and low and behold, when you do that in any configuration you get Oh, IKEA! #1 baby! Even over IKEA’s own pages, Woo! I have the power of Googlnation!

So we had a nice talk about IKEA and possible locations around the capitol city, he said the city council had their eyes on IKEA to take over the City center mall or something, which knowing where that is in the smack middle of downtown - NO WAY that would be horrid to shop in and horrid for the town’s already busy city traffic.

IKEA in any town means a maddening rolling roadblock a mile long on a weekend. (And you can’t exactly successfully get your IKEA goods and get on the bus) The traffic problems around IKEA’s are infamous. If the city developers really think thats a good idea I want them to go to Chicago’s on a weekend. I know IKEA has very set standards in stone about where they locate, and I don’t think there is a downtown in existence that can cope with them.

Vetty Intereschting

Google Search for “ohio IKEA” I got some interesting results. I drilled down the top two to a “similar search” for just that domain and found a number of presos (evidentially part of a business class) on an IKEA in Columbus.

One powerpoint preso stands out for me (IKEAfour.ppt) as it has various figures and requirements and stated non-negotiables. Most these files are showing creation dates in December 2003, so it wasn’t all that long ago.

I have to wonder if they didn’t share this data with IKEA in some way… anyway they are interesting to see what’s required/involved.

Will it be Reynoldsburg?

A little blue birdie said that there is a hubbub in the Reynoldsburg, Ohio offices, seems “blue box bid” is the reason. Yep, IKEA is going buckeye! Reynoldsburg is a suburb just on the outside 270 loop, to the east of Columbus proper.

Now, one possible catch is that Reynoldsburg has zoning regulations that only allow for natural brick, and as all IKEA fans know their buildings are cobalt blue.

The swedes are very into corporate identity and the store is the identity. All stores are blue. I hope this works out before Reynoldsburg blows something fabulous for everyone.

Columbus I think is the natural place for IKEA, but my heart dreams of closer, and thinking over the local options. I think just a couple exits south of me in West Chester, Ohio on 75 at the Union Center exit would be an ideal place. New area, new exit ramp as of three years ago, a bunch of higher end shop and restaurants stuff still just going in, still lots of room to grow. Most of that area around the ramp is open and empty still. Lots of room for a Big Blue Box.

Oh yeah, that’s the ideal place I think, and still very accessible to Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Springfield, and of course those in Columbus and Cleveland and 71 is pretty close as well. About an hour and half from Columbus, OH and Lexington, KY.

That’s just me dreaming though… watch this blog for more news as it comes!