An Art-o-Mat!


Le Méridien Chambers Hotel in Minneapolis is the country’s first luxury art hotel. From their website, it “features over 200 pieces of original contemporary art work from the private collection of the hotel’s owner Ralph Burnet. Discover many of these great pieces at the Minneapolis Burnet Art Gallery. Edgy and controversial pieces from the Young British Artist movement can be spotted throughout the hotel.”

I walked through the hotel to get to the gallery (see my previous post), and returning to my car, noticed the Art-o-Mat that I had missed on the way in. An Art-o-Mat is a repurposed cigarette vending machine that now dispenses art. The Art-o-Mat website says there are now more than 100 machines, with more than 400 artists from 10 different countries. The website has a location finder, if you want to buy your own art.

So here’s my Art-o-Mat journey: Oh! An Art-o-Mat!

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I need a buy a token to play ($5).

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Which to choose?

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At this point, my parking meter is running out of money, so I bring my selection home to open. I chose earrings, because I cannot resist jewelry.
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Opening the box, here’s the packaging. I have to love an envelope made out of a sushi menu!
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Great fun, big blue plastic earrings! I am wearing them as I write this.

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And to hold the box upright when photographing? Kumquats, of course.
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