Ona Lindquist

Then. Why Now?

Then, Objets Vend’art by Vendona wrote itself. In a little bang of events, in a barn in upstate New York, Vend’art came to consciousness. It was 1984.

Now, it has to be written.
Having laid fallow for 25 years in another barn in upstate New York, a small thing happened in early 2013. Out of the blue, I received a photograph of an objet I made for Vend’art, with the fortuitous title, Fresh and Clean. The photograph brought back memories, the ‘as if yesterday’ kind. Looking at the photograph, I admitted to myself, I had abandoned, along with Vend’art, a crucial part of my creative self and the bragging rights of all those who participated in the project, be it artist, host, consumer, collector and the media, who found the concept irresistible.

This curious and out of place machine initiated an interaction that started a dialog about an out of place acquisition. This dynamic inspired the art that was produced, the locations it was shown, the press it received, and the untold responses it generated in that private moment of recognition.

In 1989, I turned a blind eye to the importance of how things end, abruptly abandoning the project, stranding 8 out of 11 working machines mid-stream, cutting off all contacts at a time when Objets Vend’art by Vendona was in full tilt and heavy demand. Vend'art had sold over 30,000 works. Everyone, it seemed, had an idea of what Vend’art was and I had lost my imagination for it.

My interests had begun to shift. I returned to school, and after two analyses, and going on to become a psychoanalyst myself, I am at last ready to revisit my past work and save Objets Vend’art by Vendona from the mice and mold of time. This website salvages for the digital age, an artifact from the analog past, and establishes its' place in the history of vending machine art.

By archiving the project, Vend’art will have a thoughtful ending, a finish to what I started, and in the process, recognize all those who were part of Vend’art from the beginning.

Recollections

From the moment I was offered a 1957 Vendo ice cream vending machine, to a moment in my studio surrounded by latex scrap, Vend’art took on a life of it’s own.

From the moment the first machine debuted at the Thorpe Gallery in 1984...

From the moment the first quarters were deposited in the machine and all 210 pieces of art sold out within hours...

From the moment I realized the machine could be placed anywhere...

From the moment the first machine travelled to New York City's Quad Cinema and installed next to the heart rate machine...

From the moment a customer realized what he got was not ice cream...

From the moment a writer from New York Magazine saw it at the Quad Cinema and wrote a short piece about it...

From the moment the phone began ringing off the hook requesting information on the machines...

From the moment everyone wanted a machine, and not just in the US ...

From the moment I realized I needed more machines...

From the moment I was approached by an artist who wanted to contribute her art work...

From the moment Artist of the Month was born...

From the moment curating the art submitted for consideration required its own mechanisms and communications...

From the moment Vend’art was rejected by certain venues

From the moment I was rejecting artists for Artist of the Month...

From the moment the art work consistently sold out...

From the moment I hired Allison Ritch as assistant, who brought a group of young hip creatives to the project...

From the moment I added a second machine and a third, fourth, fifth...

From the moment Vend’art was vandalized at a famous upper east side steak house...

From the moment I created a door called "For Collectors Only" enabling me to compile a long list of Vend’art collectors and their holdings...

From the moment I had overalls and T shirts made for those who weekly stocked, maintained and collected the money from the machines...

From the moment I was ripped off by a Japanese department store after months of negotiations to install a machine there ...

From the moment I put a second machine next to the first machine at the Quad Cinema...

From the moment 11 machines traveled to 14 different cities in the United States over 4 years...

From the moment I raised my prices from 75 cents to $3 depending on the location...

...over 30,000 works had been sold and I moved on.

The Art of Vendona