VISUAL ARTS | Works of art for only $5 from Twin Cities vending machines
Tony Tudisco and his art vending machine at the St. Paul Art Crawl. (Photo by Jennifer Thomsen)
The Altered Esthetics art vending machine drew a crowd of purchasers and spectators right inside the door of the Northern Warehouse lobby during the St. Paul Art Crawl, October 9-11. The vintage cigarette machine was re-purposed by Tony Tudisco to vend original works by Twin Cities artists for only five dollars. Art enthusiasts selected from painted or mixed-media block canvases, jewelry, buttons, sculpture, silk and more.
Tudisco said he partnered with the St. Paul Art Collective to fill the machine with a mix of St. Paul and Minneapolis artists in order to "bridge the gap" between the two art communities. The small pieces provide people with a taste of an artist's work, Tudisco added, and sometimes purchasers will head to the studio for more. The vending machine appeals to children, too, who can take something away from an otherwise grown-up event.
This year the art vending machine was featured on the art crawl's web site. "I'm just going to look out for it," Amber Waldo said, because she was already planning to attend the event. Several other people agreed that they knew about the machine ahead of time and were making it part of their visit.
"I wanted the machine to pick for me," Alyssa Puffer-Kunau said, while trying to pull two knobs at once. Tudisco tries to stock the machine with an appealing variety of items but in the end, the purchaser has to make a choice. A small display of some possible examples was on top of the machine and each pull-out knob corresponded to a description card, usually provided by the artist.
"The only real criteria is dimensions," Tudisco explained. Any kind of two-dimensional art on a block or three-dimensional piece that will fit in a box the size of a cigarette pack can fit and go through the vending machine.
Sometimes artists ask for their art to be included. In the case of the St. Paul Art Crawl, an open call for the vending machine was put out in advance. Sometimes Tudisco finds an artist he thinks would work for the medium and asks if they would be interested.
"It's fun knowing someone has a little piece of your work out there," said D.C. Ice. She did a dozen pieces of her "sinister but sweet" drawings to support the arts and the art community when approached by Tudisco. The vending machine sold out of her items Friday, the opening night of the art crawl.
The artists can choose whether they want to split the proceeds with Altered Esthetics, a nonprofit arts organization, or donate their work to the group, which then offers to provide appropriately sized wood blocks to work on.
There are currently three Altered Esthetics art vending machines around the Twin Cities. One is permanently at their gallery, 1224 Quincy St. NE, and includes several of their featured artists. A second is permanently at Big Brain Comics, 1027 Washington Ave. S., and vends miniature comic books. The third is the traveling machine, which was featured at the St. Paul Art Crawl and Minneapolis MOSAIC. Tudisco said he recently acquired another vintage machine and is in the process of outfitting it to be his fourth.
The only real drawback to the art vending machine was encountered by Kristin Thompson, Altered Esthetics exhibitions director. She waited inside the door of the Northern Warehouse lobby, providing the five dollars in quarters to excited people who wanted to give it a whirl and remained upbeat as it repeatedly jammed or rejected quarters for one reason or another.
It happened on my turn too, but I patiently re-fed quarters into the beast, yanked on the pearl handle and received my numbered piece by St. Paul's Jeffery F. Morrison. After showing it off to all my friends, I went home and put it in a place of honor. It's honestly the only original art I own.
Altered Esthetics
This attraction was added to the Daily Planet through a partnership with the Arise! Atlas (arisebookstore.org).
1224 Quincy St. NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413
us
Jennifer Thomsen (Jennifer@tcdailyplanet.net) is a freelance writer living in the Twin Cities.
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Comments
Wow!
I wish I could see this--Ilive in Madison and think this is a great idea. Maybe we can do something like this here.
art dispensing machine in madison
Hey Gale, There is a machine in Madison. It's called the Art o Mat and it has lived at Pop Deluxe at 310 State for seven years. This concept is completely unoriginal, check out www.artomat.org to se the original art vending machines, celebrating over 10 years in action. They're installed in many world class museums - Whitney, MoMA, as well as a lot of great shops and galleries nationwide. Shame on this group for such a blatent copy without even giving props the original creator. Lame!
Not lame
The gallery that puts out the machines in this article has shown my art many times, in the machine and in the gallery. They are an organization that fully supports artists in a way that I have not seen at most other galleries. They have never claimed that this idea is their own. They frequently refer to other similar machines when talked to about theirs. Please get all the facts about something before you judge it.
Inexpensive orignal art is everywhere
There are additional art vending machines, if I remember correctly, at Chambers Gallery (the cigarette machine type) and at SooVAC (the little plastic capsule /superball type).
Jennifer, I hope you mean that this was your FIRST piece of original art and not the ONLY -- at least not the only for long! You aren't limited to shopping vending machines to find affordable original art by local artists, it surrounds us every day at the Twin Cities' many many art centers/galleries, retail shops and universities.
Been Done.....
The machine at the Chambers is an Art-o-mat. www.artomat.org There is also one at Pop Deluxe in Madison.
Give credit where due.
Sometimes art is about being original. Other times and in most cases it's about ripping it off... and if your real good you can make it your own. You should know however that the Art-O-Mat cigarette vending machine has been around and was created some 11+years ago. Your machine is a good idea but recognize invention don't front to long or you'll get called out. Peace — Relax. Keep making art.
Being original
Just wanted to add my two cents to the comments here... (for the record).
Nobody (from Ae or from the TC Daily Planet) ever claimed this was an original idea, in the same respect that nobody ever claimed having an art gallery was original. We've seen other art vending machines (Art-O-Mat and various independent vending machines) in places from Mpls to Tacoma. We're lucky enough to have somebody on our board that is a vintage machine collector of sorts, and he thought his machines could be used to help us further our mission (being a voice for artists.) Had the interviewer asked “what was your inspiration to repurpose this machine,” we could have talked about the historical precedents... but the article wasn’t about that, it was about the machine’s presence at the crawl.
The Art-O-Mat is an awesome project but I don't think they hold a monopoly on re-purposing (anything) for the sake of art. The more machines (and galleries) there are, the more accessible art is, and that makes more opportunities for artists to reach a broader audience. That’s how we see it, anyway.
Connections
Strengthening communities is one of the most powerful things about art, any art, even bad art! It starts a dialogue, stirs discussion, creates bonds and sometimes rifts, but always thought and evaluation. It is ultimately about an expanded view of the world around us and the increased possibilities for open-mindedness and connection. It is always advisable to acknowledge history and give credit to your inspiration / model, even when not asked. Gives the creditor more credibility, it expands the world for those being exposed to a concept for the first time, especially if the concept has been appropriated and those being exposed to it for the first time possibly mistake it for an original creation.
for art's sake
kudos kid for putting this together but i agree with mark g. that you need to give credit where credit is due. it'll only make you and the project look better - and perhaps even grow...i believe in karma. embrace it!
tiny studio/kalamazoo michigan
www.artomat.org
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