Clark Whittington

Clark Whittington is an artist and the creator of the Art-o-mat.^[1][2] Art-o-mat machines are retired cigarette vending machines that have been converted to vend art.^[3][4][5][6]

The inspiration for Art-o-mat came to artist Clark Whittington while observing a friend who had a Pavlovian reaction to the crinkle of cellophane.^[1][7] When Whittington's friend heard someone opening a snack, he had the uncontrollable urge to have one too.

After moving to Winston-Salem, North Carolina, Whittington was set to have a solo art show at a local cafe, Penny Universitie (now Mary's Of Course Cafe).^[1] This is when Whittington used a recently-banned cigarette machine to create the first Artomat.^[1] The show opened in June 1997 and the original machine was installed along with 12 of his assemblage paintings.^[1] The machine sold Whittington's black & white photographs for $1.00 each.^[1]

This art show was scheduled to be dismantled in July 1997; however, Cynthia Giles (owner of the Penny Universitie) loved the machine and asked that it stay permanently.^[1] Clark felt that the machine would create a conflict in the space unless it was open to artists in the community. Giles then introduced Whittington to a handful of other local artists and Artists in Cellophane was formed. Today, there are 90 machines around the world and over 400 artists involved.^[1][6][8] Six of the machines are featured at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.^[9]

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