Counter Culture

Concept: 

The Automat was a new kind of dining experience that came about in the early 1900s.

Before the advent of vending machines, fast food, or malls and their food courts, the Automat was an equalizing alternative to restaurants. 

Offering inexpensive, fresh food, and a dining hall where anyone could sit, the Automat created a space where cross sections of the public normally segregated and sequestered from one another would overlap in new ways. This was especially true in New York City, a place founded on people coming together, sharing and remixing their stories. 

The Automat offered a unique moment of egalitarian vision, connecting people through one of humanity’s oldest points of bonding – food. It also laid the groundwork for some of the most divisive/destructive aspects of modern American culture: fast food, vending machines, and malls with their food courts, all of which primarily emphasize not a space for all, but quick, unexamined mass consumption. 

Similarly, the advent of the internet was steeped in ideals of collaborative, virtual spaces where people could reinvent themselves, meet like minded people across the planet, and share ideas. 

This paradox is central to our current human condition, our relationship with technology, and the history of New York itself – the immigrant city where people are constantly remixing their heritage and innovating, connecting, all while chasing fame, fortune, and success. 

The Art-O-Mat is an updated nod to these complex cycles of technology while asserting that creativity and environmental consciousness is sustenance for the soul: a means to connect and unite people across demographics, tapping into our shared humanity. 

Project:

I propose to build a modern version of the automat using a majority of recycled/rescued materials. The materials will be salvaged from  buildings in New York, adding a continued history to upcycled making. The front of the automat box is clear, the back of each has a small screen. The overall aesthetic is old meets new. 

Through an open call, the Art-O-Mat will be filled with small affordable art works created by local artists, (talismans) using found and recycled materials. Each participating artist receives a size guide and a prompt from which to work from, i.e. “Dream”.

Each talisman is 3D scanned, and connected to a project website. 

Every virtual talisman can be viewed online, along with artist info and the prompt that inspired it. 

Visitors can buy a physical talisman through a digital interface on the Art-O-Mat. When doing so, they are asked to complete a sentence, (i.e. “I hope…”) 

The answer (i.e. “for a better future”) becomes part of the virtual talisman’s profile, reflected in the machine, and online.

The small display in the back of each automat compartment contains remixed text of the original prompt and the answer the visitor gave, i.e. “Hope, dream, better, future.” These words can be seen through the clear glass front of the compartments. 

When a compartment is empty, a new piece of art is added. New works are created from prompts inspired by the new words in the Art-O-Mat. 

The Art-O-Mat is refilled as often as needed.

The Art-O-Mat and the website become collaborative, with individuals keeping small pieces of the work that function as a lucky piece crafted together.

The proceeds in sales will be divided between the artists and charitable organizations. 

This work can be installed at a variety of events, but will seek to debut Earth Day 2027, in NYC.