Update: HOMECOMING! has stopped taking furnishings for this project, but is still accepting donations to cover shipping.
While the bulk of the Texas Biennial happens at San Antonio's Blue Star Contemporary Art Museum and other satellite cities' venues, Dallas has a couple offerings of its own. The most flammable of which is being Allen wrenched together over at CentralTrak. Friskt kopplat, hälften brunnet (Quickly connected, half burned) is the newest mission launched by wily local art collective HOMECOMING! Committee, who would like to help burn your janky-ass IKEA crap during its unconventional, month-long, committee-in-residency, of sorts.
See Also: The DMA Gives a Shit About Local Art, It's Time You Did Too.
The project is migratory, moving between San Antonio and the UTD residency to look at energy usage and consumption from a global standpoint. It also exists as a parody to Sweden's waste-to-energy program and its representation though a 2012 Digital Journal piece, which stated that the conversion of trash-to-energy via incineration was so successful that the country had simply run out of refuse to burn.
To keep up with the demand created by the energy program, Sweden announced it needed more fuel for its flames. So, it started shipping the stuff in from other countries.
Naturally, HOMECOMING! has a few thoughts on all of that, which it's expressing via a collection center for public disposal of "well-worn, broken or unwanted IKEA furniture." The group will document the process by gathering data on the items (product name, lifespan, retail cost, owner satisfaction), doubling the "service" as artful appropriation.
You're welcome to pop by and check out this participatory, growing installation throughout the month, or more formally at its reception this Thursday. Once piled up and detailed, the disposed home goods will be packaged into custom-built shipping containers, stamped with HOMECOMING!'s seal of approval, and then sent to Sweden for a final exhibition. When that show closes, the crates will move one last time, to Torsviksverket for incineration. Thus completing the retail items' life cycle destiny, right back in their motherland.
If you've got some goods to contribute to the program, give CentralTrak a ring before you stop by. Or better, donate towards the transportation fees; this program ain't covered by Amazon Prime. The Committee will be in and out of CentralTrak during the show's run so visit their site or email them.
Thursday night's party is sponsored by Bombay Sapphire, to bring out the ginner in you.
