YVONNE DRÖGE WENDEL, Item, 2008, [Nr 14]
14 x 24 x 18 cm
fabric, thread. 2 charts
Coll. Kees van Gelder, Amsterdam

YVONNE DRÖGE WENDEL
Item of the Item Store (2008)

This object with a pair of glossy tags attached is one of the items that were put on display in her Item Store 2008. They are all made of the same grey-green fabric, although they vary in size and shape, they look similar in their clumsiness. The charts as tags are ad randomly pinned on each object and are meant to guide the observer’s perception. As such these labels reveal a relational identity of the objects through a wide range of manuals, stories, images, histories or color charts printed on these.
Although the labels have been deliberately attached to the specific objects in principle they are exchangeable and the items are open to any kind of interpretation.

“All items are ready to be uploaded with the thoughts of the observer. Play with your perception and see your emotions jump from a label to an object and from an object to a label. Make a choice and imagine a new thing!”

The fascination for things is a consistent factor in her work and life. Yvonne Dröge Wendel is concerned with the relationship between people, objects and context. With a philosophical approach she aims to capture what it is that objects actually do. i.e. do to the owners and to people in general: “Few people realize that in fact objects play an important role in the way they act, the choices they make and how their body is influenced by these.”

In January 1992 for her final exam at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam Yvonne Dröge married a cupboard (Wendel Ltd.) that she owned since she was a child and that carried precious recollections for her.
KvG

Dr. A.H. Heinekenprijs voor de Kunst 2016