Machinegum Launches NYC Interactive Art Project

machinegum is an artist's collective that draws inspiration from involvement of the viewer/interpreter. In the hope of promoting inclusion and propagating further art in its name, all pieces will integrate an element of response or interaction from the individuals witnessing it.

Pink gumball machines have been distributed throughout the city hung on lampposts, the color and multiplicity of which will symbolize the saccharine, lustful quality of commercialism. A single machine is also included in an unceremonious corner of a Sotheby's gallery during an exhibit of old master paintings. The machines dispense either bubblegum or clear capsules carrying pink painted quarters, depending on the luck of the draw. These capsules will also include a QR code that when scanned will direct the user to a security footage webpage that will give them exclusive content from machinegum.

Users will be prompted to RSVP to a gallery opening where the pink quarter from the machines will allow admittance to a private NYC Art gallery in early January. Upon entering, cameras throughout the gallery will project realtime pink-tinted footage of the guests that will cover the walls of the space in an attempt to reorient the role of audience members from passive witnesses to active ingredients of the show.

A shelf of pink cassette tapes will hang in a corner. The same colored pink paint will be provided for guests to use on anything they might be carrying in their pockets and would be willing to trade for a cassette and its spot on the wall. The shelf will gradually transform into a communal piece filled with random pink colored items, a visible representation of responsible reciprocity.

machinegum will be performing on the day of the opening and their instruments will be left at the gallery for interaction by future viewers. Audio will be recorded throughout the duration of the show to be released on the website. The invitational gum ball machines will also be on view, hopefully weathered and graffitied by the elements. The instruments, the communal shelf and the gumball machines will be for sale. The exclusive content will be free.