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| BKB & Company 1998-2011 |
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| Mom and me at BKB & Company |
Since 1998, my mom and I have run BKB & Company,
www.bkbcompany.com our wearable art and contemporary crafts gallery in downtown Tacoma, Washington. In December 2011 we decided to close the gallery after 14 years. We were host to an Art*o*mat® art vending machine
www.artomat.org since 2005 and we were proud to have the first machine in the state (there is currently a machine at Venue Gallery in Ballard). Despite Art*o*mat®'s popularity in Tacoma, we could not find a replacement host venue downtown so our machine was destined to be shipped back to owner/creator, Clark Whittington, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
But mom had a better idea... ROAD TRIP!!!
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| Owner/Creator, Clark Whittington, and our Art*o*mat® |
So what in the world is an Art*o*mat® anyway, you may ask? They are retired cigarette machines that have been recycled/refurbished/repurposed into art vending machines. You purchase a token for $5.00, put it in the slot, pull the knob, and KER-PLUNK! You've just become a collector of one of over 400 participating
Artists in Cellophane (artists from all over the world who make the cigarette-box-sized works of art). There are over 90 active machines in the US, Canada, and even in Europe. It's a hugely popular and successful project that makes art accessible to absolutely anyone. Who can't spring for five bucks for a piece of art even in this economy, right?
It's kinda sad that our machine won't be staying in Tacoma but we're definitely excited about loading it into mom's 4x4 minivan and driving it cross-country, through Santa Fe, NM (where we have a "gig" in February-more on that later), and then on through the south, all the way to Clark in Winston-Salem, NC. We'll be sure to take LOTS of pics with Art*o*mat® at various roadside attractions along the way so be sure to log on and keep track of us on Our Epic Art*o*mat Road Trip!
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| Our cream and purple metal flake Art*o*mat® |
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| Minors are NOT forbidden to buy art! |
Wow, found this blog/project/adventure from a tweet sent out by Clark this weekend. So sorry to hear about the closing of BKB & Co, we made a trip to Seattle/Tacoma in the Fall of 2010 & came to the gallery because we had seen your Art-o-mat listed on the Locations list. (And loved the gallery too!)
ReplyDeleteHopefully you'll be passing through Baltimore, we have NO Art-o-mats here yet, if you can believe that - it's a travesty!
Thanks for your kind words, Slapster! And thanks for coming to BKB & Co when you were in town last year. Funny, I don't remember meeting any scary clowns, LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe won't be traveling that far north, so Baltimore will not be on the itinerary for this trip, but I wholeheartedly agree that Balto needs a machine too!