by Cammy Clark
Miami Herald, February 2009
Slip a $5 token into a vintage cigarette machine at a studio in Key West, pull on the knob and a cellophane-wrapped packet pops out. Its contents could be habit-forming: original art.
North Carolina artist Clark Whittington has turned about 90 obsolete machines that once dispensed Marlboros and Virginia Slims into ''Art-o-Mats'' that sell small, unique pieces of art ranging from floral sculptures to barcode tattoos.
Whittington brings art to the masses. He's placed the vending machines in coffee shops, art hotels, museums, and grocery stores.
''In many cases, Art-o-Mat is the first time artists have sold art and the first time a buyer has bought art,'' Whittington said during a stop in Key West Tuesday.
LOOKING FOR ARTISTS
He's in Florida searching for more artists to fill the machines. Between 350 and 400 artists have created works. One piece from Japan ended up with a man from Iran via an Art-o-Mat in Los Angeles. About 25,000 pieces of art kerplunk from vending machines each year.
''Key West is such a creative place, with a legacy of artists and writers and creative discovery, that I wanted to bring the machine to this community,'' said Eric Holowacz, director of the Studios of Key West, where one of the machines is located. ....The missing piece was getting artists from Key West into the Art-o-Mat.''
Thursday night, Whittington will be in Miami, the guest lecturer at the LoweDown Happy Hour, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.
Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he warned a group of Key West artists that the Art-o-Mat is not a get-rich scheme -- although he said two single moms from Bangladesh made enough money from hand-knit dolls to support their families for a year.
''When artists find out this is run by an artist, then they understand maybe why the money is not so great,'' Whittington said. ....It's more about public relations and proliferation of their work.''
It's also about making art accessible to all. 'At my first machine, a police officer told me, ..Well, your art is right smart,' '' Whittington recalled. ....It's not a term critics use, not a term Picasso would use. But it opened my eyes that it was reaching people who may never have been exposed to art before.''
INSPIRATION
Art-o-Mat's inspiration came in 1997 from a friend of Whittington's who liked the sound of snacks coming from vending machines. When tougher smoking laws banned cigarette machines from locations where minors could use them, Whittington fitted one of the machines to dispense $1 black and white photographs.
The Art-o-Mat took off in 1999, after a story about it on National Public Radio's Morning Edition led to a call from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York requesting an Art-o-Mat.
Miami dentist and art collector Steve Lanster saw that Art-of-Mat and thought it was ''so cool'' that he got an employee to help him buy 15 artworks at once. He now has over 400 Art-o-Mat pieces.
''It's the whole concept of somebody converting old cigarette machines of the '50s and '60s that dispensed something harmful for you into now dispensing something wonderful,'' said Lanster, who brought Art-o--Mats to the Miami Art Museum and Lowe Art Museum.
Of the $5 fee, $2.50 goes to the artist, $1.50 to the place housing the machine and $1 to Whittington's company. ''But when people buy a $5 treasure and look on the back and see a website of the artist's other work, they might buy the artist's more important works,'' Lanster said. ....Then it's a win-win situation.''
Holowacz said art collectors and tourists have become fans of the machine: ....There's a sense of mystery of what's behind those 20 slots. Put your token in, hear the kerplunk and you get a package to unwrap. It's fun.''
North Carolina artist Clark Whittington has turned about 90 obsolete machines that once dispensed Marlboros and Virginia Slims into ''Art-o-Mats'' that sell small, unique pieces of art ranging from floral sculptures to barcode tattoos.
Whittington brings art to the masses. He's placed the vending machines in coffee shops, art hotels, museums, and grocery stores.
''In many cases, Art-o-Mat is the first time artists have sold art and the first time a buyer has bought art,'' Whittington said during a stop in Key West Tuesday.
LOOKING FOR ARTISTS
He's in Florida searching for more artists to fill the machines. Between 350 and 400 artists have created works. One piece from Japan ended up with a man from Iran via an Art-o-Mat in Los Angeles. About 25,000 pieces of art kerplunk from vending machines each year.
''Key West is such a creative place, with a legacy of artists and writers and creative discovery, that I wanted to bring the machine to this community,'' said Eric Holowacz, director of the Studios of Key West, where one of the machines is located. ....The missing piece was getting artists from Key West into the Art-o-Mat.''
Thursday night, Whittington will be in Miami, the guest lecturer at the LoweDown Happy Hour, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Lowe Art Museum on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables.
Dressed in a T-shirt and jeans, he warned a group of Key West artists that the Art-o-Mat is not a get-rich scheme -- although he said two single moms from Bangladesh made enough money from hand-knit dolls to support their families for a year.
''When artists find out this is run by an artist, then they understand maybe why the money is not so great,'' Whittington said. ....It's more about public relations and proliferation of their work.''
It's also about making art accessible to all. 'At my first machine, a police officer told me, ..Well, your art is right smart,' '' Whittington recalled. ....It's not a term critics use, not a term Picasso would use. But it opened my eyes that it was reaching people who may never have been exposed to art before.''
INSPIRATION
Art-o-Mat's inspiration came in 1997 from a friend of Whittington's who liked the sound of snacks coming from vending machines. When tougher smoking laws banned cigarette machines from locations where minors could use them, Whittington fitted one of the machines to dispense $1 black and white photographs.
The Art-o-Mat took off in 1999, after a story about it on National Public Radio's Morning Edition led to a call from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York requesting an Art-o-Mat.
Miami dentist and art collector Steve Lanster saw that Art-of-Mat and thought it was ''so cool'' that he got an employee to help him buy 15 artworks at once. He now has over 400 Art-o-Mat pieces.
''It's the whole concept of somebody converting old cigarette machines of the '50s and '60s that dispensed something harmful for you into now dispensing something wonderful,'' said Lanster, who brought Art-o--Mats to the Miami Art Museum and Lowe Art Museum.
Of the $5 fee, $2.50 goes to the artist, $1.50 to the place housing the machine and $1 to Whittington's company. ''But when people buy a $5 treasure and look on the back and see a website of the artist's other work, they might buy the artist's more important works,'' Lanster said. ....Then it's a win-win situation.''
Holowacz said art collectors and tourists have become fans of the machine: ....There's a sense of mystery of what's behind those 20 slots. Put your token in, hear the kerplunk and you get a package to unwrap. It's fun.''