News feed
Australia’s biggest Powerball jackpot was drawn overnight, and chances are you weren’t one of the two winners who each claimed half of the $100 million prize. Which isn’t to say that you can’t claim winner status. A new experiential exhibition opening next week presented by Dowel Jones at Melbourne’s Lamington Drive presents everyone with the once-in-a-lifetime chance to win something, anything.
Lucky Dip takes its cues from the reject and two dollar shops to create a series of gift shop objects with serious design credentials. The objects will be concealed within “a sea of boxes”, according to the design duo, “that could contain anything from a chopping board to a table, for participants to claim. Much like a visit to a two dollar shop, you’re bound to go home with something that you never knew you needed, but may hold a special place in your heart and home.” The prizes themselves run a gamut from objects designed exclusively for Lucky Dip – some in collaboration with local creatives – as well as classic Dowel Jones pieces. For those hoping to game the system, the size of an object’s box won’t correlate with the final prize.
The installation, if you could call it that, sees Dowel Jones’ Dale Hardiman and Adam Lynch expand their interrogation of how spaces form an integral part of how object design is experienced. Earlier this year, the designers collaborated with the New York-based Australian designer Tom Hancocks on a series of virtual reality spaces that showcased a new collection of upholstered chairs at New York Design Week. Lucky Dip then presents Hardiman and Lynch with another avenue to situate their practice in an environment that’s wildly divergent from the traditional confines of design, and as visitors to the site enter the store, a series of prints “that depict imagined spaces with one foot in the familiar and the other in new territory,” will also be available for purchase along with tickets for the titular draw.
Sign ups for the Lucky Dip draw will open August 22, with the show continuing until September 15, when participants will return to collect and unveil their prizes. More information is available here.
Tile image: Cricket Studio
Cover image: Courtesy of Lamington Drive
