Art-o-mat sentenced to the Workhouse

For Immediate Release:

On Friday, November 7th, a very hardened, former cigarette vending machine was delivered to the Workhouse Arts Center for rehabilitation as an Art-o-matŪ. During processing, documents were presented which proved that this machine's former residence was, of all places, a university dormitory. [Insert crowd gasp, gavel bang, order! order! here]. The machine maintains it's innocence and states the evidence was planted....

OK. Enough with the jokes.

Seriously, the Workhouse is now a machine host and they definitely have a "Swords into Plowshares" thing in common with us. This organization has repurposed a former prison (something normally considered worthless/negative) into an incredibly positive cultural hub for the community of Lorton, Va. Their doors opened in September. Even during this early stage of their conversion process, approximately 100 artists already have studios in the various buildings. We met with several of their artists during the installation and we hope many will be involved in our project. We did not take pictures of their work out of respect for any intellectual property concerns. But many are referenced on the Workhouse website.

The place is exciting. If you are traveling along I-95 south of Washington, DC...we suggest taking a break to check it out.

For the record, this machine was the roughest one we have ever converted into an Art-o-mat. The machine appeared to have been broken into (during it's former life) by being toppled onto it's face. A "before" picture of the machine is posted on our Flickr site link below. A great body shop guy named "Tom" deserves quite a bit of credit for saving this machine from the crusher. An "after" picture that shows his expertise is also posted on that link.

Click here to see pictures of the install.

Click here to find out more about the Workhouse Arts Center.

Uh...one more. Unless paroled early, this machine will be at Workhouse for 20 years to life.

Sincerely,

AIC

European Month of Photography

Hi there.

We were recently informed that our first (and only) Art-o-matŪ artist from Vienna was selected for the European Month of Photography 2008. Achim Gauger creates a series titled "Greetings From" which are spontaneous compositions shot at notable sightseeing attractions using exclusively Polaroid film. He uses this photographic medium as it is somewhat perishable (compared to other photographic materials) and the images can fade...much like our memories.

21 original photographs from this series are in the show. To find out more:

Click here to visit the "Greetings From" website.

Click here to find out more about the exhibition.


Sincerely,

AIC