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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Art-O-Mat at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas

Art-O-Mat machines are salvaged and refurbished cigarette dispensers.
Art-O-Mat vending machines at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
(above photos: TheHopefulTraveler)
Many people have to stop, gaze and wonder at these vending machines that look like they should be dispensing cigarettes. One would expect as much from these Art-O-Mats, six of them to be exact, located at the Cosmopolitan at Las Vegas. But rather than cigarettes or candy or gum, these machines dispense artwork.

Art-O-Mat is a Winston-Salem company that revamps cigarette machines into dispensers of $5 mini works of art. The company has moved nearly 25,000 works annually vending in museums, galleries and coffee shops. This is the first resort to host the program that sells original miniature works from around the world. The boxes that are dispensed contain such objects as prints, paintings, sculptures and jewelry.

These machines, some of them salvaged from junkyards, are refurbished with a high-end finish for a classic and beautiful look, a look that relates directly to the unique surroundings of the Cosmopolitan.

These Art-O-Mats make art simple, accessible and fun for the average man. For struggling artists, they may sell their very first of art from these machines. For the uninitiated art lover, the machines in turn offer the opportunity for them to purchase their first piece of artwork.

Think of these machines like a miniature gallery of art. See something interesting, spend a few dollars and enjoy a custom-made and unique piece of art. I saw a couple of them near the Cosmopolitan's restaurants the Wicked Spoon and the Overlook Grill.

Visit artomat.org for more information on the program.

Choosing an artists work is guesswork. You're not sure
if you'll get a print, painting, sculpture, jewelry or another miniature
custom work of art.
(photo: TheHopefulTraveler) 
An example of an Art-O-Matic work of art: custom made earrings.
(photo: Mark's Las Vegas)
This box contained a mosaic whimsy.
 (photo: Mark's Las Vegas)

4 comments:

  1. Why Art-O-Mat is not only counterproductive but abusive.

    1. Art-O-Mat informs and reminds children that they can get away with obtaining and using tobacco product. It does not inform and remind them of anything else whatsoever and I am NOT wrong about this. Take a close look at what this is. It's a cigarette machine, which advertises the tobacco industry's history and continued success, by cleverly pretending to distribute ART!

    2. Tobacco companies are now focused on the countries where they can get away with it, and marketing directly to children. If you need citation on this just type Indonesia Smoking Kids into YouTube or view this video specifically: How Indonesian Kids Are Getting Hooked On Cigarettes: https://youtu.be/fM9t3hub6yg

    3. Convincing hundreds of people to play along with an abusive mind game involving children is disrespectful to say the least, and donating a quarter of your personal profit margin to an elementary school doesn't compensate. If this guy had any integrity he would donate all of it, and abandon the activity immediately.

    4. Art is just another vice. If you're having trouble understanding and agreeing with this, remind yourself of the source. Where did you get it? A vending machine? That in itself requires no further inquiry, such as why and wether it's because someone else did it and you heard the cellophane crinkle.

    5. Demoting yourself by saying you hope your activity doesn't backfire shows that it both will and should. Someone who says that makes it obvious they're not where they need to be.

    6. Throwing gang signs isn't showing that you own your power. It doesn't even show that you're a mature adult. Get out of my art gallery with that garbage. Go to where people do that and do it there

    7. Art-O-Mat was not created by it's current manager in response to a Pavlovian reaction to a snack wrapper. It was created by a cigarette addicted minor experiencing Pavlovian calls to actual cigarette wrappers, as a bad joke and sting on capitalism while under the influence of the illegal psychedelic drug psilocybin, with help from a cocaine addicted illegal Mexican immigrant who got the cocaine he was high on when he and the kid shook hands on this idea directly from Klaus Nomi and David Bowie who happened to be in town. The date this occurred was new year's eve of 1992.

    8. Clark reported that some children pointed out that there were still cigarettes in his vending machines to a dj on npr. He is in fact aware of the truth of this, but he thinks he's "in on it"

    1 in 50 Indonesian children start smoking at age 4. Support our cause by sharing this message with at least one person to spread awareness and force an asap Art-O-Mat shutdown.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Why Art-O-Mat is not only counterproductive but abusive.

    1. Art-O-Mat informs and reminds children that they can get away with obtaining and using tobacco product. It does not inform and remind them of anything else whatsoever and I am NOT wrong about this. Take a close look at what this is. It's a cigarette machine, which advertises the tobacco industry's history and continued success, by cleverly pretending to distribute ART!

    2. Tobacco companies are now focused on the countries where they can get away with it, and marketing directly to children. If you need citation on this just type Indonesia Smoking Kids into YouTube or view this video specifically: How Indonesian Kids Are Getting Hooked On Cigarettes https://youtu.be/fM9t3hub6yg

    3. Convincing hundreds of people to play along with an abusive mind game involving children is disrespectful to say the least, and donating a quarter of your personal profit margin to an elementary school doesn't compensate. If this guy had any integrity he would donate all of it, and abandon the activity immediately.

    4. Art is just another vice. If you're having trouble understanding and agreeing with this, remind yourself of the source. Where did you get it? A vending machine? That in itself requires no further inquiry, such as why and wether it's because someone else did it and you heard the cellophane crinkle.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am amazed at this comment. There is no link provided between re-purposing cigarette machines and youth smoking.

    It seems that there would be an obvious connection to removing cigarettes from these machines and a reduction in access to cigarettes.

    And art is a vice? What is immoral or wicked about art?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Why Kevin England is an idiot...

    1.There aren't any kids under 18 today that would even know what one of these old cigarette machines even are. These machines are labeled "Art-o-mat", so the only thing they would know about them is that they are art vending machines.

    2. Who brings their kids to Vegas? If you do choose to bring your kids to Vegas you better fully expect that they will be exposed to somethings that they may not be ready for. I mean there are women walking around half naked for example.

    3. At least they are choosing to donate some of their proceeds to elementary schools. They didn't have to donate anything if they didn't want to.

    4.Just because you can buy something out of a vending machine doesn't make it a vice. You can buy water out of a vending machine...does that make water a vice? NO...no it doesn't. Water is an essential element of life. Even if you do consider it a vice, is art really that bad for you? Scientific studies have show that art is very therapeutic and even calming due to the fact that it causes your mind to focus on one thing which in turn ends up blocking out all the other thoughts, worries, and anxiety of life. So out of all the "vices" in Vegas this is probably the least harmful.

    ReplyDelete