Ikea Heights
For anyone who has ever visited an Ikea store the video above should come as no great leap of logic. Wandering through the various furnished rooms, as meticulously arranged as any stage set, one is almost overpowered by the urge to simply set up camp in a disembodied kitchen and pretend to inhabit it. How many times have I lounged on a severe, uncomfortable sofa and resisted the urge to yell at passers-by to stop blocking my view of the fake plastic television in the press-board entertainment unit? How often have I managed to restrain myself from sitting down at a cheaply veneered computer table in front of a hollow, faux-monitor, and begin masturbating furiously, stopping only occasionally to remonstrate gawking shoppers for “not knocking first”?
Don’t you judge me.
The people at Channel 101 know these desires. They have seen the potential of the Ikea model of retail stores and they have taken full advantage, using the ready-made rooms as the backdrop for their melodrama Ikea Heights, which details the scandalous goings-on in the living-room, kitchen, office, and bath sections. It’s a tale of murder, deception, sex, and greed. Also, polyester.
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:01 am
Chinese people love to hang out at Ikea:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-china-ikea25-2009aug25,0,7736661.story?page=1
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Thanks for the link Alexandria… that totally needs to catch on here… I mean in IKEA specifically, not Walmart of something… http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/551.jpg
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I’ve just had a day of IKEA Failure, so coming back to this is absolutely perfect.
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:47 pm
OH MY GOD. I have ALWAYS wanted to do this. Ever since the first time I set foot in an IKEA! These Channel 101 people are living my dream!
I the part where he picks up the cardboard cordless phone! I love the pillows in the opening scene – they really heighten the drama, don’t they? I love how they bump their heads on the hanging price tags, like they’re not even there. Intrigue in the “pillow factory”!
GENIUS.
September 17th, 2009 at 6:16 am
I’ve pondered on the ikea phenomenon myself before. in the past, furniture meant sturdy chairs and tables, which reflected local culture and often lasted several generations, or at least a larger part of your life. we go to museums and see furniture from the past, the arts and crafts movement, fine handpainted china, intricately carved wooden desks and armoirs, and I end up wondering, in a 100 years, will we see laminated ikea tables in the museums? the thought always makes me cringe just a little.
We are technologically quite advanced, yet, it seems that a few centuries ago we managed to create more beautiful things then we currently do. (of course, if you shell out enough money you can still buy beautiful things, but in most houses nowadays its laminated furniture galore)