Art Vending Machines

The vending machine couldn't fit the coins required to buy my small copper sculptures even if they fit in the machine.

We have a similar thing here in the states through a company called Art-O-Mat. About 10 years ago, I knew several artists who were involved with the program. I looked into it, but had too much going on to make time for it.

Here's their FaceBook page -

https://www.facebook.com/originalartomat

Wendy-

Putting art on a block seems a little time consuming according to Art-O-Mat . I like the idea of having art in a wrapper similar to the way baseball cards were sold.

It always comes back to this...Picasso painted wine bottle labels early in his career. If you think you are better than that...stop kidding yourself.

Dave

I recently purchased a bottle of wine with a Picasso image, the wine was good.

Does it take credit cards?

....

This would be great for FAA discount coupons. Put in a quarter and get a $10 off $50 purchase.

Danl,

It seems very time consuming -- which is what stopped me from diving in. I do like the idea, though!

I think it is a novel idea but I still prefer buying from a street vendor. His own work or work of other artists.

There is also one in the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Las Vegas.

I think it is a great idea. Anyone has access to a work of original art at an affordable price. I knew a woman in San Fran who went into the Tenderloin and bought small items from homeless people. She then made found art using those items and then took the money she made back to the original people from whom she purchased the items. THAT was her art, a form of Social Practice.

How big the machine is?

The original Art-o-Mat was by Clark Whittington...

He sold his own artwork in the first Art-o-Mat in 1997 in a Winston-Salem, N.C., gallery.
The project now includes more than 40 rehabilitated cigarette machines, including prime spots in the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs,
the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
About 300 artists worldwide contribute to the project.

Interesting and unique use of old cigarette machines. I recall pulling the handles of a few cigarette machines quite a few years ago. (25 cents a pack back in high school).

Selling art on a continual basis out of them probably depends on a good (great) location, and, rotating the stock of various images (for repeat customer sales).

A concept which I registered is Switch Yer View. We rent videos in good faith from vending machines and return them with options to buy. You buy my images with an option to return the image for something new Copyright Michael Hoard. You keep it until you are ready to Switch yer View

For your new viewing pleasure just Switch A Roo

Concept copyright by Michael Joseph Hoard

My sales potenial.

$475,000 annually

I can lease or franchise.

If they are talking about selling little original paintings that way it's totally impractical. You can't charge that much so you can't make enough money selling little pieces to ever be more than starving. Prints, yes..

David-

A fellow on the Seine paints small images of Paris. Most are 3x5.. He sells the originals for $30 each. He tells me that he averages 15 sales per day. In fact, while I was standing there, he made three sales to one tourist. If it works here, why not in vending machines?

Japan is the place where vending machines are king.

http://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/blog/gallery/18-things-you-can-buy-in-japanese-vending-machines/

As with anything you have to consider the opportunity costs of not offering something more desirable. After paying for the machine and renting the spot, what if you'd be better off selling soda.

Yes Danl I know someone in Brittainy, the Gulf de Morbihan who does the same thing, every one is similar. He has sold his sole to the production line.

Andy-

I have read many times in FAA Discussions how artists are struggling to sell their work. Or asking how they make more sales. Or how to get more exposure and money.

The artist on the Seine gets the exposure. He makes sales, He makes money. Unlike FAA members who just sit inside hoping their computer marketing skills will create results.

Perhaps the artist on the Seine is selling his soul. But he is achieving what many FAA artists fail to achieve. Namely, sales and money.

Art-O-Mat

“We could make profit if we charged four or five euros for the art but we don’t want to — we’re more interested in art and in making it accessible,” he said.*

http://sallyhanreck.com/archives/3260

*Translation: I still live in my parents basement and live on government cheese.

I knew someone who did this ,they have been around for a while. I think it's more for exposure than making any real money

If I am not mistaken in my art history, the idea behind the art vending machine was in fact the art itself. It was an artistic expression of how to make small works of original art affordable and accessible to the general public. So it was two, two, two arts in one. The vending machine was a statement of mass production and had the added benefit of dispensing "real" art. I don't think that it was begun as an actual revenue producer, that any "profits" we're purely incidental. That is not to say that in some cases it may have morphed since its inception.

It is a marketing avenue. Good for exposure. So, if you only made one sale a year from the vending machine. It is at least a sale.

And the cost of that one sale?

The machines and rental location aren't free. Plus transportation, material costs....

Edward-

As the old saying goes...."It takes money to make money"