Sunday, January 24, 2010

#14 IKEA Art

BYU students love cheap, disposable furniture from IKEA. Its existence allows them to remodel their dingy, health hazard houses on 7th East into modern, sophisticated lofts similar to those found in the Upper East Side. The only thing these students love more than this assemble-it-yourself furniture is IKEA art.

Not only does IKEA art contribute to the loft feel, but IKEA art allows BYU students to prove to other BYU students that come over for game nights, crepe parties, Halloween bashes, FHE, game nights, cocoa chats, ward activities, game nights, and FHE that the members of household appreciate the arts. Purchasing an oversized portrait of Audrey Hepburn (love her) or a blown up photograph of the streets of Manhattan shows exquisite and refined taste. The members of this house are often above simple movie posters and discarded concert advertisements. They have considered the theme of the room and what the art means hanging lonely on the paint chipped wall.

Of course, like anything on campus, this art also leads to interaction with members of the opposite sex. Dialogue goes something like this:

Blonde with WHITE! teeth: “I love that piece on your wall!!”

Sweet Bro turned Hipster: “Yeah, me too. I love New York City. I worked there last summer.”

BWT: “Really? Did you intern or something?”

SBH: “Yeah…. cough, doing summer sales in Jersey …I want to move back as soon as possible.”

BWT: “That is sooo amazing! I love New York. It just has this raw energy. It takes my breath away. This photograph really captures the feeling. I could just stare at this all day….”

SBH: “I have more pictures of New York in my FJ Cruiser. Want to go check them out?”

BWT: “Yeah, I’m sick of Apples to Apples anyway.”

This is just one example of how IKEA art can lead to a “successful” encounter. While the “art” owner may have never been to New York, or even New Jersey, they use the art as a conversation starter. And at BYU, a conversation is all you need.

This post is not to encourage you to purchase cheap, mass produced art, but to make you aware that you will begin to see all the same lily paintings in every campus apartment. Please, for your own social development, do not inform the art owner that you have seen the piece at the house next door. Simply admire the painting, and try to have a real art discussion about Wal-Mart..er..IKEA décor.

7 comments:

Kyle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kyle said...

This really hits home. But I'm still not over my Muhammed Ali KO'ing Sonny Liston in the first minute poster. Call me classless, but its AWESOME!!!

Anonymous said...

sweet bro turned hipster. bwahaha. nice jenny.

Unknown said...

My college dorm had no pictures what so ever. I went to the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh nor did any ladies have any to start conversations :-) Ha, my dorm was almost like a boring warehouse.


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Meghan Smith said...

welcome to my apartment

Anonymous said...

Love these posts! What about posting a little bit about "going to CALI" for "ROADTRIP" AKA extended make-out session at stop signs, stop lights, and not knowing how to really say "CALIFORNIA". P.S. If you're from California, you would NEVER call it CALI. (I love this blog!)

Lindsey said...

Haha my roommates and I totally got our decorations from the DI. Nothing says class more than a poster of a tiger with a baby tiger in its mouth.