Joachim Schmid ROCKS - Ikea SUCKS

Joachim Schmid at Paris Photo 2014

Schmid's latest bookwork takes a jab at Swedish furniture retailer Ikea with a work simply called Ikea Sucks. JS says this: In my opinion they owe me money. They don’t agree. In order to recuperate the disputed amount I made this book. The prices of all items bought at Ikea are listed in the book. The revenue from sales of the complete edition equals the total of my purchase. All materials used for the production of the book were involuntarily supplied by Ikea. The book’s pages are Ikea note sheets, the cover is made of Ikea wrapping paper and cardboard, the typographic elements and photos are taken from the Ikea catalog. The twenty-five copies of the book are numbered and signed using an Ikea pencil which is attached to each copy. Everything is kept neat and flat and in place by a belly band made of an Ikea measuring tape.

Conceptual artist Joachim Schmid  is a master of the banal, the overlooked and the found. And is a typological magician. His practice revolves around the artist book of which he has produced many, rivaling Moriyama, Araki and Parr in the volume of his output. 

Many of Schmid's bookworks are printed on demand often by Blurb or Lulu. They are concise, focused and generally inexpensive. You can buy Ikea Sucks direct from Joachim Schmid's website HERE along with the rest of his huge output. And more often than not you will find him at one or other of the many artists' book-fairs. I'm sure you'll find him at Printed Matter's NY Art book Fair, 18 - 20 September of this year. Finally, more about JS at Wikipedia HERE.