Synchronicity? What better word to describe the convergence of an idea swirling in the mind of conceptual artist Clark Whittington and the banning of the cigarette vending machine?
And let’s not overlook Whittington’s friend, who happened to have a Pavlovian desire to enjoy a snack every time he heard the sound of a crinkling cellophane wrapper.
In 1997 Whittington wanted to create an art installation. His idea was to make a piece of art that in turn dispensed art.
“I wanted to put art in vending machines so people would habitually buy art like they would junk food,” said Whittington who is from Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
That same year, cigarette-vending machines were banned in North Carolina in an attempt to limit access to minors. Suddenly hundreds of ornate, heavy, still functioning steel machines, built between 1950 and 1980, were headed to the scrapyard.
Whittington had his pick of any machine he wanted. For free.
“If potato chips in vending machines had been banned in 1997 I might be doing a different format,” he said.
The Art-o-mat was born.
The first machine was installed at a cafe in Winston-Salem. Whittington loaded it with black and white photographs mounted on a block of wood the size of a pack of cigarettes and sold them for a buck each.
It became a huge hit. The owner of the cafe asked him to leave it at the shop.
Realizing he was on to something, Whittington began refurbishing more machines and recruited fellow artists to fill them with art of all kinds.
“Me became we,” Whittington said.
There are now more than 200 machines dispensing art by thousands of participating artists located all over the world.
One of those Art-o-mat machines is on the campus of Lane Community College in Eugene.
In 2003, LCC visual arts and graphic design professor Susan Lowdermilk visited the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. Lowdermilk became enamored with an Art-o-mat located in a gift shop and bought a black and white pinhole photograph of the Notre-Dame de Paris.
“I thought it was so cool!” she remembers.
When Lowdermilk returned to Eugene she began the process of bringing a machine to the the community college. It has lived in The Lane Community College Art Gallery since 2004.
For $5, it dispenses small sculptures, painting, poems and concept-driven art. The gallery is located in Building 11 on the LCC campus in Eugene and is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Whittington recently returned to Eugene to do maintenance on the machine, meet with students and give a public talk about his art.
He is astonished at the longevity of his project.
“I thought I would get rid of the first machine after a month,” Whittington said.
“It is amazing how artists bring their own point of view to this format. Every time an artist steps up, they change the project from within,” he said. “I am really grateful for that.”
Contact photographer Chris Pietsch at [email protected], or follow him on Twitter @ChrisPietsch and Instagram @chrispietsch.