Ars Electronica: Merrick – deformed IKEA lamps
Photography: Leo Veger
Another work that is really worth mentioning is Merrick. Merrick is a mutated Ikea lamp created by Daan van den Berg. In this work, the artist uses the feature of IKEA's website that allows users to design their own lamp that is then created as physical object by a 3D printer. To produce Merrick, Daan van den Berg infected the IKEA design files with a virus that mutates the original lamp templates. After being printed by the 3D printer, the infected template becomes a physical lamp containing cracks and lumps that were caused by the
virus infection.
By infecting the Ikea CAD files and then using the 3D printer, Daan's virus is manifested in the physical world. This is a clear example of how computer code can extend into reality. The disease-like formations on the lamps show how code takes physical form.