Art-o-mat

I wanted to share with the world this nifty little contraption we found in Santa Fe. We found this particular Art-o-mat at Meow Wolf, but there are hundreds of these scattered across the U.S.

Each Art-o-mat is a retired cigarette machine, restored to surpass its former glory. The particular Art-o-mat that we encountered was restored to a vivid orange, fixed with a Dia De Los Muertos skull and roses.

If you are wondering what in the world these machines do, they dispense original pieces of art, with no two pieces ever being alike. Some of the minuscule works of art are in sculpture form, others are tiny little canvases. Some of the pieces will be jewelry. You might encounter a little keychain as your original art piece, or you might encounter something entirely unexplainable. Each piece is novel, and will only set you back five bucks.

The great thing about the Art-o-mat is that it makes original art work accessible and affordable, while encourgaing and supporting lesser known artist. It does this through a completely novel concept, redesigning previously forgotten objects into beautiful pieces of art for dispensing beautiful pieces of art.

To learn more about the project or to find an Art-o-mat near you, check out their website here.