Artist John is reinvending the idea of art auctions
ALICE WHITEHEAD
At one time you would only expect chocolate bars and cans
of coke to pop out of a vending machine. But now, thanks
to one ingenious East Ender, you can buy instant works of
art too.
Artist John Hayward has invented a machine that vends
portable boxed paintings, textiles, books, photos and tapes.
More than 100 artists from around the UK and London
have stuffed their work into the little yellow boxes to sell
to the public for just £1.(£2 now)
Now the Whitechapel Gallery, the Spitz Gallery,
Spitalfields and the Lux Cinema in Hoxton are among the
venues who have had a Hayvend installed.
John, whose studios are based in Bow, said he came
up with the idea for the machine when he was trawling
through a rubbish tip.
"I found a slot vending machine in a skip and
took it home to see what I could do with it," said John.
"I managed to find out how it worked and got it
working again."
"The whole thing started from there."
MACHINE
Now, the first machine, which is still in working
order, can be found in the Zwemmers Bookshop in the
Whitechapel Gallery.
Other machines, including one converted from a sanitary
towel dispenser, have been installed in the Institute of
Contemporary Arts bar in the Mall and the Tactical coffee bar
in Soho(old location).
But John, from Hanbury Street, Whitechapel, said he is
not going to stop there and plans to design machines that
vend CDROMS, digital art on floppy disks and internet
material
"The original idea was to provide a genuine
alternative way for an artist to promote, distribute and
sell their work," he said.
"Now anyone and everyone has access to works of
art."
image bottom right shows work by
Ramsey Williamson
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