This creative vending machine asks its customers for just five dollars and spits out an artist’s original work in return!
By Remi Steeves
Installed in 2023 on Lane Community College’s main campus in Building 11 next to the school’s art gallery, the Art-o-mat is a vending machine which dispenses miniature original artworks. For just $5, anyone can receive a miniature original artwork dispensed from the machine, making art more accessible to the public.
The machine is stocked with works from various artists, and when a customer puts in a $5 bill, they may choose any of the artists available and receive a random work. The machine gives a summary of an artist’s style, ranging from flat paintings or photographs, which are framed or supported by a backing, to tiny sculptures.
According to an info card placed on top of the machine, “Since 2004 this machine has vended over 2,600 original artworks from hundreds of artists from the US and abroad. Currently, there are about 200 Art-o-mat machines worldwide.
“The mission of the project is to encourage art consumption by combining the worlds of art and commerce in an innovative form supporting art that is progressive, yet personal and approachable. What better way to do this, than with a heavy, cold, steel machine?”
LCC’s art history instructor Annika Davis da Cunha says, “You can choose between all these different artists, and they kind of give you the artist’s name, and a preview of what you might get out of it, but you don’t know exactly what you’ll get. It’s an original work each time. Some of them are, like, two dimensional works that are stuck on a backing; some of them come in little frames. Some of them are three dimensional, like a tiny little sculpture. It’s random what you get from the artist, but you can choose which artist you want. One of them, for example, does little miniature sculptures of sushi, so you know you’re gonna get some kind of little mini sushi from them.”
Davis da Cunha adds, “It’s prestocked with works. There’s a database for the Art-o-mat, where artists can apply to submit their work. And then we order things, as I understand it, from that database, so if we run out of an artist’s work we can go to the database and place an order to get more. Most of [the money] goes to the artists, minus maybe a little bit that covers shipping and maintenance for the machine.”
After speaking to Davis da Cunha, I had to try the machine out for myself. I inserted the money into the slot, and chose which artist I wanted. There was a brass knob beneath the artist’s name and a picture of an example piece of their art and what type of art it was. I chose one of Ren Williams’ Pocket Friends and pulled the knob. Out of the machine popped a little cardboard box, inside of which was a colorful, tiny felted creature wrapped carefully in tissue paper.
Find the Art–o-mat in Building 11 on the LCC main campus.
