Objet Vendart

The Media Responds

From its debut at the Thorpe Gallery in Sparkill, NY and its immediate mention in the New York Times under the heading of “Crafts”, the press was smitten with the idea of Objets Vendart by Vendona.

Three months later, shortly after the first commercial installation at the Quad Cinema in New York City, a three paragraph piece appeared in New York Magazine, launching Vendart into popular culture as a modest sensation before the concept of "viral" was born. The inquiries started arriving; business owners wanting a machine for their venue, people wanting to get into the “vending machine” business, artists wanting to participate, and writers looking for a story. Everybody, it seemed, wanted a machine, to participate in the project. or wanted to tell the story of this vending machine that sold art.

I was soon struck by the range of interests from high culture represented by the magazine, “Art and Antiques” to the popular culture of “People Magazine”, to the commercial culture of, “Vending Times” and “Advertising Age”. International interest quickly followed as well.

With each of the subsequent 14 installations a new market was opened. Local, radio, TV and newspapers wanted interviews for their human interest stories.

Here, we have tried to archive this media interest. Unfortunately, the difficulty of digitizing 30 year old electronic media, radio and television, leaves our current archive incomplete. We hope to be adding these entertaining glimpses of, what was for us, very heady times.

TELEVISION
Oct 1988   CBS Channel 6, Albany, NY feature by B. Sheehan
Jul 1987   WNYW Fox Channel 5, feature by Judy Licht
Dec 1986   CNN "Women today", produced by Kate Andrews
Mar 1986   EAST CO. INC., Tokyo, Japan, "World Wide-How Much"
Dec 1985   Nippas Productions, Japan, "New Yorking"
Nov 1985   KRON, San Francisco, Ca., by Kim Petersen
Oct 1985   WTVJ, Miami, Fla. by Katherine Couric
Sep 1985   Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Oslo, Norway by Jahn Otto Johanson
Aug 1985   WTDV, Durham, N.C. by Don Ross

RADIO INTERVIEWS
Apr 1988   Monitor Radio, The Christian Science Monitor by Frank Ferrel
Dec 1987   WMCA New York City, by Paul W. Smith
May 1987   VOA Europe, "Voice of America" by Wanda Levine
Aug 1985   KUIC, Vacaville, Ca. by Kelly Dupuis
    KOI, Phoenix, AZ., by Richard Dixon
    KWHL, Anchorage, AL, by Mark Raney
    WJLK, Asbury Park, NJ, by Dick Lewis
    WABC, Palm Springs, CA
    KXOK, St. Louis, MO. by Grant Horton
    Radio 98, London, Ontario, Canada by A. Wroebel

NEWS SERVICES
Nov 1987     UPI by Joan Hanauer
Aug 1985     Copley Network by Mike Dale
Rip and Read by Ron Kelly