Pallet Collar Chronicles Volume 1

Pallet Collar Chronicles, Volumes 1–4

An artistic craft project by Akay & Olabo. *Pallet Collar Chronicles* marks the culmination of a project by artists Akay and Olabo, centering on reuse, creativity, and the overlooked materials of everyday life.

Pallet Collar Chronicles Volume 1.
Millions of pallet collars are manufactured for the transport industry every year. Once no longer needed, they are often left folded up outside buildings, warehouses, and loading docks. Nearly a hundred discarded pallet collars were collected and given new life at Toxoplasma’s workshop, where the wood was transformed into a series of artistic projects.

But the story didn’t quite end when the wood had been used up. Left behind was a box containing the metal fittings from the original pallet collars. Akay wanted to get rid of them, while Olabo saw potential in the leftovers. Perhaps they would come in handy one day. That day arrived in the form of books.

Since pallet collars are mass-produced, it is rare to come across units bearing a specific company logo. They feel almost like collector’s items—a real find. Because each pallet collar featured the company’s unique logo printed on both long sides, cutting the boards to the correct length resulted in pairs of wooden planks with identical painted logos on one side.

Toxoplasma used these to create an oversized "Memory" game. The boards were laid out on the street with the logos facing down, and two players took turns flipping over two boards at a time to memorize the color, shape, and company name in order to collect matching pairs.

The first Swedish Memory Championship was held on May 25, 2019. Susanne Krutrök still holds the championship title.