The Aesthetics of Extra

Ossian Melin and Arvida Byström Twist the Binaries of High and Low

If you could, would you buy a pink Gucci dishwasher? Would your dishes shine like never-before? Oftentimes the connotation of luxury boils down to one thing: symbology. Instrumental objects are rarely coveted the same way as designer goods. So, if you put a designer logo on a seemingly benign utilitarian object, for instance a hammer, or a brick, does it suddenly become desirable? Just ask Supreme. Supererogatory aesthetics go in and out of fashion, just like the glamour and excess of the 80s gave way to minimalism and monochrome in the 90s. The fluctuation between which luxury signifiers are considered tasteful, which are considered ‘extra,’ and which are considered extra that they become ironically covetable is exhaustive. Artist’s Ossian Melin and Arvida Byström utilize multimedia techniques to manipulate high and low in an exploration of the dizzying cycle of monogram-philia.