Art Vending Machine

Art Vending Machine, 2011
Instalation
Curator: Agnieszka Sural
The work was presented during the Witryna Madrid-Tokyo-Moscow project organized by the Witryna Foundation
as an accompanying event at Villa Tokyo
Produced by: Fundacja Witryna 

As consumers, we are much more willing to listen to suggestions and advice from friends than from strangers. Similarly, we are most willing to shop in places that we already know. Yet despite convention, every human being also has a vivacity for discovery, regardless of cultural or geographical boundaries. The installation Art Vending Machine perfectly exploited these two mechanisms, known within the discipline of motivation psychology, by proposing to buy Polish art from a classic Japanese vending machine. One of the most common and widely-used elements of modern Japanese material culture are vending machines, where you can buy anything from a phone to an umbrella to fresh eggs and potted flowers. There is one such machine for every 23 residents in Tokyo.

The invited artists made special editions of works that were loaded into the vending machine and of course, were for sale. The piece was presented during the Witryna Madrid-Tokyo-Moscow project organized by the Witryna Foundation as an accompanying event at Villa Tokyo on the occasion of the Polish Presidency of the European Union. Most of the artworks placed in the vending machine were purchased.