The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas is one of the newer, more contemporary hotels on The Strip, so it was quite a surprise to see what appeared to be a vintage cigarette machine on the casino floor. Upon closer inspection it was something more far more exciting that we could imagine – and that’s no mean feat considering we’d just pretty much broken a vending machine that had cool gifts such as mini Diana camera key-rings in it simply by purchasing something… It was an Art vending machine, the Cosmopolitan prides itself of making art available to everyone “from the most novice observer to the most sophisticated critic” which fits right in with the ethos of Art-O-Mat
For the amazingly bargain price of $5 you can purchase your own piece of art-in-a-box, the selection options range from ‘random’ pieces of art, to more specific items such as monsters or pin cushions and in the overly manufactured land of Las Vegas, these were a really cool idea, something unique to take home.
Above is a piece of quilted art by Nancy Goodman that I received from the ‘random’ selection, I also got a one of a kind pin cushion from Woolie Art, my friend Jen got a mini monster called Petey, who enjoyed the road trip around America
Each piece of art comes in a small 54mm x 82mm x 21mm white cardboard box, that plops so satisfyingly out the machines when you pull the knob like an excited child (or you may just be an excited child), which are courtesy of Art-O-Mat. Art-O-Mat have over 90 machines over the USA dispensing art works from approx 400 artists from 10 countries – if you’re interested in having your art in their machines, instructions are on the website above .
It’s a relatively simple yet exciting and unique idea to get art out there and in the hands of everyone, I’d be very interested in trying something similar here in the UK, so if you’re also interested in collaborating to make it happen, get in touch breakbeatx[@]gmail.com
Culturenator 