After 2 days visiting hundreds of exhibits during Armory Art Fair Week, there’s one interactive installation that stands out above all others – and that’s Art Vending Machine $1 Paintings.
Booth 512 on Pier 94 at the Armory Show, Gallerie Forsblom, Helsinki, Stockholm
I love it! Apparently so does the Guggenheim who is thinking about purchasing this.
Located on the 94th Pier (Booth 512) at the grandaddy Armory Show (through Sunday, March 4), Art Vending Machine $1 Paintings attracted long lines whenever it was operating. The novelty of watching an original piece of artwork pop out of a huge vending machine for $1 was irresistible.
Simply put in your dollar, choose the concept you want from the list, tell the representative who talks to artist through a cardboard tube in the wall, wait a bit, and out it comes. Then you have your photo taken with your original art.
The buyers all walked away with big grins, proudly holding their abstract compositions, many commenting they were going to frame their creations.
This was one of the most innovative and memorable installations I have even seen at an art fair. It has special appeal to me as a painter of vending machines (Icons of the Candy World, Icons of the Chip World), my most recent being Super Foods.
“Super Foods”, Vending Machine Series, by Beverly Shipko, Oil on wood panel, 5 x 7 inches
With 10 paintings in the series so far, Art Vending Machine $1 Paintings opened up the world of possibilities to explore further. I plan to go beyond broccoli and think broader. As the metaphorical visual below implies, this theme can incorporate any material – even the kitchen sink.
So can I.
