You can't lay down your memory, chest of drawers
(1991)
Medium
maple, wood, stained and veneered wood, laminate, opaque synthetic polymer resin, cardboard, powder-coated steel, cane, glass, brass, plastic, jute and metal
Measurements
(a-oo) 140.5 × 135.9 × 69.7 cm (overall)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased NGV Foundation, 2017
© Courtesy of Droog Design, Amsterdam
Gallery location
Level 3, NGV International
About this work
You can’t lay down your memory, chest of drawers is constructed from a variety of second-hand drawers that appear to be assembled in a haphazard way, held together with an oversized belt. Tejo Remy’s vision was to make furniture with objects he had salvaged, in a critical take on design and its relationship to order, customisation and sustainability. This chest of drawers, one of Droog’s most acclaimed pieces, is a functional object with intellectual gravitas. Its title points to the role that memory plays in forming relationships with objects, reminding us that the drawers have histories linked to the lives of the people who once used them.