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Lot Essay
cf. R. Ramakers (ed.), Simply Droog: 10 + 1 Years of Creating Innovation and Discussion, Amsterdam, 2004, p. 27.
H. Schoenholz Bee (ed.), Objects of Design from The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2003, p. 276.
M. Baverey (ed.), Less and More: Design in the Fonds National D'Art Contemporain Collections, 1980-2002, Paris, 2002, p. 78.
D. A. Hanks, A. Hoy and M. Eidelberg, Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000, exhibition catalogue, Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, 2000, pp. 210-211 and 233.
Exhibition catalogue, Droog & Dutch Design, From Product to Fashion, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 2000, pp. 104, 108, 110.
R. Ramakers and G. Bakker (eds.), Droog Design: Spirit of the Nineties, Rotterdam, 1998, p. 38.
Tejo Remy's humorous and lively 'You Can't Lay Down Your Memory' chest of drawers, made from an eclectic collection of recycled drawers, has become an icon of the revolutionary collective Droog Design's repertoire.
Tejo Remy, along with Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, was one of the first members of the Dutch association founded by the design historian Renny Ramakers and the designer and educator Gijs Bakker in 1993. Conceived in direct reaction to the extravagance, excess and self-consciousness of the 1980s and postmodernism, the designers associated with Droog (which means 'dry') were instrumental in redirecting the course of design in the 1990s. In direct contrast, Droog addressed environmental issues and their forms drew upon the familiar and the low-tech, using recycled or 'pre-loved' materials to create novel and witty everyday objects.
Each of the mismatched drawers in Remy's cabinet is encased in a maple box and the collection held together with a canvas movers' strap. The final shape is irrelevant as the various recycled drawers, all different colors, shapes and sizes, may be removed, added or rearranged indiscriminately by the owner. The piece's meaning, its poetic reuse of old objects and nostalgia, its questioning of societies' over- production and over-consumption is gleaned from its overall, imperfect, formless shape.
Other examples of Tejo Remy's 'You Can't Lay Down Your Memory' chest of drawers are included in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Design Museum, London, The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Die Neue Sammlung Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Design Museum, London.
H. Schoenholz Bee (ed.), Objects of Design from The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2003, p. 276.
M. Baverey (ed.), Less and More: Design in the Fonds National D'Art Contemporain Collections, 1980-2002, Paris, 2002, p. 78.
D. A. Hanks, A. Hoy and M. Eidelberg, Design for Living: Furniture and Lighting 1950-2000, exhibition catalogue, Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts, Paris, 2000, pp. 210-211 and 233.
Exhibition catalogue, Droog & Dutch Design, From Product to Fashion, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 2000, pp. 104, 108, 110.
R. Ramakers and G. Bakker (eds.), Droog Design: Spirit of the Nineties, Rotterdam, 1998, p. 38.
Tejo Remy's humorous and lively 'You Can't Lay Down Your Memory' chest of drawers, made from an eclectic collection of recycled drawers, has become an icon of the revolutionary collective Droog Design's repertoire.
Tejo Remy, along with Hella Jongerius and Marcel Wanders, was one of the first members of the Dutch association founded by the design historian Renny Ramakers and the designer and educator Gijs Bakker in 1993. Conceived in direct reaction to the extravagance, excess and self-consciousness of the 1980s and postmodernism, the designers associated with Droog (which means 'dry') were instrumental in redirecting the course of design in the 1990s. In direct contrast, Droog addressed environmental issues and their forms drew upon the familiar and the low-tech, using recycled or 'pre-loved' materials to create novel and witty everyday objects.
Each of the mismatched drawers in Remy's cabinet is encased in a maple box and the collection held together with a canvas movers' strap. The final shape is irrelevant as the various recycled drawers, all different colors, shapes and sizes, may be removed, added or rearranged indiscriminately by the owner. The piece's meaning, its poetic reuse of old objects and nostalgia, its questioning of societies' over- production and over-consumption is gleaned from its overall, imperfect, formless shape.
Other examples of Tejo Remy's 'You Can't Lay Down Your Memory' chest of drawers are included in the permanent collection of The Museum of Modern Art, New York, The High Museum of Art, Atlanta, Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Design Museum, London, The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Die Neue Sammlung Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich, The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam and the Design Museum, London.