Thursday 26 November 2009

Ikea as a Hyperreal space


When I begin to think of simulation spaces and elements of hyperreal I think of shops and especially shops with showrooms. Ikea is a brilliant example of this. When you walk around Ikea you become part of an elaborate portrayal of the ideal home that has been designed with great detail and attention (for example in some room sets there are pictures that show "family").











Even though we know and are aware that this is a shop we become oblivious to this marketing ploy. The room "sets" show a way of life and customers think that Ikea are not just selling things but a lifestyle. This abstract space however does feel strangely real although it is a staged representation we begin to use the space as if it was real. And Ikea generally use this to their adavantage, thus none of those "DO NOT SIT ON THE FURNITURE" signs. All this means that we the consumer do not think of this as a falsified environment, we think that it is real so this space becomes the hyperreal.

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