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| waiting for the restaurant to open |
It starts to feel like work. We notice some people who come here every day. And they notice us too.
There are the city workers, who, we suspect, check in at their work and then go directly to IKEA to have breakfast.
There is the elderly Greek looking man, who seems to wear make-up, who brings his own additions to the breakfast. Under a serviette he hides a tupperware container with feta and olives.
The woman who looks like a librarian, who always brings a book or a newsletter.
The group of 7 who all come by themselves to meet up here, always on the same table. Two of the women are bald.
And there are these Turkish looking men who look at us very conspicuously. They seem to be talking about us, do they know we are spies? But aren't we also part of this?
From an artistic point of view, it's interesting that the IKEA breakfast is such a participatory project: You fetch and combine your own breakfast and you clean up after yourself. In a lot of places there are messages like: "make yourself comfortable, grab a baby seat".
When a message asks for a certain behavior, there is always an explanation. For example: "When you clean up after yourself, we can keep your breakfast cheap."
Or: "When you keep the toilets clean, we can offer you low prizes." The latter one is stuck on the bathroom mirror, so you can read it and look at yourself at the same time.
Because there is no surveillance in the restaurant, except for the man collecting the racks of used serving trays, we notice that people have developed hacks for the breakfast.
Of course when the second cup of coffee or tea is free, you can also take a third. Now what you do when you first had a cup of coffee and then you want tea from the same cup is: you press the button for tea, but instead of filling the cup, you rinse it with the hot water. When i's clean, you simply push the button again to fill it up.
If you can have a cheap breakfast, why not have a cheap lunch? Some people prepare and pack up their lunch, same as their breakfast.
Like the Greek, to bring your own additions, to lively up your breakfast and bring in some variation.
And when your breakfast is finished, instead of following the arrows through the whole store, you simply wave your hand in front of the laser and exit through the entrance.
