Art-o-Mat
Pop Quiz: What do you do if it’s 9 PM, you have five bucks in you wallet and you have a very strong urge to purchase a $5 piece of original art?
Well, like every sensible person, you’d immediately head down to your local Art-o-mat, insert $5 (or five ones) and choose from an array of cigarette package-sized pieces of original art.
Problem solved. You can rest soundly tonight.
In 1997, Clark Whittington had an inspiration. He had a single man art show at a local café and used a decommissioned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat. The machine was installed with 12 of his paintings and sold Whittington’s black and white photographs, which were mounted on blocks the same size as a package of cigarettes, for $1 each.
Hey, inflation. Now the art costs $5, which is still less than the price of a package of cigarettes, and doesn’t leave you coughing or your lungs looking as if you have spent the last 20 years working in a West Virginia coal mine.
The original show was scheduled to stay up a month, but the café owner loved the Art-o-mat and asked if it could stay in the café. It was obvious to Whittington that the involvement of other artists was needed if the Art-o-mat project was to continue and grow.
Artists in Cellophane — get it? — was formed.
The official mission of Artists in Cellophane is “to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form. AIC believes that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable. What better way to do this than with a heavy, cold, steel machine?”
As the Art-o-mat art card says, “Put in $5, pull the knob and KER-PLUNK… You’re an Art Collector!”
“What do you get?” the Art-o-mat website asks… “The experience of pulling the knob alone is quite a thrill, but you also walk away with an original work of art. What an easy way to become an art collector.”
You can collect paintings, drawings, jewelry, photography, glass and more, all in the size of a cigarette box.
There are currently around 400 contributing artists from 10 different countries currently involved in the Art-o-mat® project, and about 100 machines or varying designs being used by the project.
If you’re an artist that feels inclined to join this cigarette box-size art movement, they have posted submission guidelines on their website: www.artomat.org. The site also shows off all their other machines and the machine locations along with a listing of all the artists who are currently participating and examples of their seven eighths by 2 1/8 by 3 ¼ sized artworks.
The Northern New Mexico machine, whose name is Mathilda by the way, is located at 102 East Water Street in Santa Fe.
Mathilda is nested between some very high-end galleries, giving you a choice. You can go into one of the high-end places and plunk down $15,000 or $20,000, or you can spend $5 at the Art-o-mat. The choice is yours.
Well, like every sensible person, you’d immediately head down to your local Art-o-mat, insert $5 (or five ones) and choose from an array of cigarette package-sized pieces of original art.
Problem solved. You can rest soundly tonight.
In 1997, Clark Whittington had an inspiration. He had a single man art show at a local café and used a decommissioned cigarette machine to create the first Art-o-mat. The machine was installed with 12 of his paintings and sold Whittington’s black and white photographs, which were mounted on blocks the same size as a package of cigarettes, for $1 each.
Hey, inflation. Now the art costs $5, which is still less than the price of a package of cigarettes, and doesn’t leave you coughing or your lungs looking as if you have spent the last 20 years working in a West Virginia coal mine.
The original show was scheduled to stay up a month, but the café owner loved the Art-o-mat and asked if it could stay in the café. It was obvious to Whittington that the involvement of other artists was needed if the Art-o-mat project was to continue and grow.
Artists in Cellophane — get it? — was formed.
The official mission of Artists in Cellophane is “to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form. AIC believes that art should be progressive, yet personal and approachable. What better way to do this than with a heavy, cold, steel machine?”
As the Art-o-mat art card says, “Put in $5, pull the knob and KER-PLUNK… You’re an Art Collector!”
“What do you get?” the Art-o-mat website asks… “The experience of pulling the knob alone is quite a thrill, but you also walk away with an original work of art. What an easy way to become an art collector.”
You can collect paintings, drawings, jewelry, photography, glass and more, all in the size of a cigarette box.
There are currently around 400 contributing artists from 10 different countries currently involved in the Art-o-mat® project, and about 100 machines or varying designs being used by the project.
If you’re an artist that feels inclined to join this cigarette box-size art movement, they have posted submission guidelines on their website: www.artomat.org. The site also shows off all their other machines and the machine locations along with a listing of all the artists who are currently participating and examples of their seven eighths by 2 1/8 by 3 ¼ sized artworks.
The Northern New Mexico machine, whose name is Mathilda by the way, is located at 102 East Water Street in Santa Fe.
Mathilda is nested between some very high-end galleries, giving you a choice. You can go into one of the high-end places and plunk down $15,000 or $20,000, or you can spend $5 at the Art-o-mat. The choice is yours.
To contact Bob Eckert for assignments, consultations or workshops, please email [email protected]
or use the contact form on the About page
or use the contact form on the About page