I have a dilemma.
I both love and hate Ikeas latest audio gadget, its picture frame speakers.
Over the past few years, Ikea has been working with Sonos to producea range of Symfonisk speakers.
The philosophy behind these have been bringing audio into everyday items.
And, when I first heard aboutthe just-announced picture frame speakers, I gushed with excitement.
The idea of populating my house with them made me tingle.
Imagine it: music pouring from every wall, a veritable cathedral of sound.
Alas though, friends.
On closer inspection, Ikeas picture frame speakers arent really picture frame speakers at all.
Instead, theyre more like wall speakers with detachable fronts.
Have a look here to see what I mean:
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This would leave a space in the middle for me to slot my own art in.
Thats not the case though.
Size and shape are vital to creating good sound, after all.
I understand why Ikea and Sonos made the Symfonisk like they have, but I still feel disappointed.
Id like to get this clear: Im not having a crack at the artists involved here.
Creating work thats both inoffensive and interesting is nigh-on-impossible.
But they all share one common thread: an unpleasant blandness.
There is one cause for hope though.
Imagine if the company partnered with a platform Society6 or Deviantart to expand its offering.
I would like the option to just upload images, but this comes with its own issues.
The first is picture quality: you might guarantee folks would be uploading some low resolution shitfiles.
The second is I cant help but think this approach would end up screwing artists somehow.
Why pay for something when it’s possible for you to just download it?
A partnership with a proper art platform though?
I dont want to be too harsh on Ikea and Sonos though.
The Symfonisk picture frame speaker is genuinely badass.
Its a fantastic idea that Im glad made it off the drawing board and into the world.
And thats okay, but also a little sad.
