Art in Unexpected Places: The Mini Mystery Art Machine Explained
The Mini Mystery Art Machine, an innovative venture initiated by Jack Ballou, serves as a conduit connecting budding art collectors with a rotating ensemble of artists from Rochester. In this episode, we talk about the conceptualization and execution of this unique art vending machine, which aims to democratize art access by providing miniature works in unexpected locales. The discussion also explores the collaborative nature of this initiative, emphasizing the importance of community engagement and the shared joy of creativity among artists and collectors alike. Throughout our chat, we reflect on the profound impact of art on individual and communal experiences, revealing the underlying motivations that drive artistic expression and connection in this amazing city of Rochester, NY.
Links mentioned in the episode:
https://www.instagram.com/jackbearstamps/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/jackbear
https://redwhiteandbrewroc.com/
Mentioned in this episode:
Food About Town
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Transcript
Foreign.
Speaker B:Welcome back to behind the Studio Door.
Speaker B:Excited to be with y'all for this season two interview opener.
Speaker B:I'm your host, Molly Darling, along with my co host, Christian Rivera.
Speaker C:Hi.
Speaker C:I heard you guys needed a co host for podcasting, so I took one of those little paper slips that had the phone number on it on the pole and posted those everywhere, and you guys said this was cool.
Speaker C:And so I thought I would show up and be a co host and see how this goes.
Speaker B:So welcome.
Speaker B:I've definitely never met you before.
Speaker C:No, this is the first time that I am showing up.
Speaker C:I have never podcasted before.
Speaker C:This is weird.
Speaker C:I want to go home.
Speaker B:Great for you too.
Speaker B:I thought there was going to be, like, a sound effect, and there wasn't, so I had a pause.
Speaker B:But we've also got our producer, Stromi Chris Lindstrom here.
Speaker A:Yeah, I am the spoiler.
Speaker A:That's why they call me Hanging Chad Lindstrom.
Speaker A:So since we are recording this technically on election night, we're here to do something positive and talk about good things.
Speaker B:We're here to dissociate.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:It's all positive.
Speaker B:No, it's actually really cool.
Speaker B:And I'm excited because today on the show, we have John or Jack Blue, who started an art vending machine earlier this year called the Mini Mystery Art Machine.
Speaker B:Its goal is to connect new art collectors in Rochester to a rotating group of area artists by selling miniature works of art in unusual places.
Speaker B:Jack.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Clap for that.
Speaker B:Unusual places.
Speaker B:Jack moves the machine each month to a new host location in hopes of finding new audiences for the artist to share their work with.
Speaker B:Jack also has his own art practice, hand carving, rubber stamps and print making.
Speaker B:Welcome to the show, Jack.
Speaker D:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker D:Yeah, this is awesome.
Speaker D:Awesome.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker B:Applause there.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So let's start with the origin story.
Speaker B:Where did this Mini Mystery Art Machine situation come from?
Speaker B:Yeah, maybe tell us a little about yourself first, if you.
Speaker B:If you want to.
Speaker D:Oh, sure.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I'm.
Speaker D:I'm Jack.
Speaker D:I've been.
Speaker D:I've been doing art for.
Speaker D:Well, since a kid, right.
Speaker D: serious about it probably in: Speaker D:I got involved in a hobby called letterboxing, which is a hobby where you hide a box out in the woods or somewhere and you.
Speaker D:You put a stamp in it in a logbook and then you write a set of clues for it for other people to find.
Speaker D:So they go on a little treasure hunt looking to find this little piece of art hidden somewhere.
Speaker D:So it might be like, hey, go to this parking lot, go down this trail, look for the left hand side and look at a.
Speaker D:And behind the tree is this box.
Speaker B:And don't get axe murdered.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:So geocaching, but more nerdy.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker C:Like an escape room without rooms.
Speaker D:Geocaching without the McDonald's toys inside.
Speaker D:Because when you find it and you open it up, you get a.
Speaker D:Usually a hand carved rubber stamp in there and you take that stamp and you stamp it into your personal logbook.
Speaker D:So you keep a little passport of the art that you find.
Speaker D:And so it's a lot.
Speaker D:So anyway, I got involved in that and I said, man, I need a stamp for this.
Speaker D:I need to hand carve a stamp.
Speaker D:Because I was looking around for a bear paw, because I wanted a bear paw and I couldn't find one.
Speaker D:I was like, all right, well I'll carve one.
Speaker D:I'll try this.
Speaker D:And it turned out better than I expected it to turn out.
Speaker D:So sure enough, one thing led to another.
Speaker D:I picked the trail name of Jack Bear based on my name and my last name is Balu, like the bear in the Jungle Book.
Speaker D:So that's where Jack Bear came from.
Speaker D:And yeah.
Speaker D:And then eventually, just other people were like, hey, can you carve me a stamp?
Speaker D:Hey, can you carve me a stamp?
Speaker D:And you know, Etsy was getting popular at the time and so started an Etsy shop.
Speaker D:And so that led to that.
Speaker D:But so I've been hand carving stamps for over 20 years.
Speaker B:That's awesome.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:But yeah, the machine came around though, about 10 years ago.
Speaker D:I was, I was not original idea.
Speaker D:I was, you know, scrolling through Pinterest and I was starting to see other people with vending machines for art.
Speaker D:And I thought, oh, what?
Speaker D:That's really cool.
Speaker D:I'm like, I wonder if I could do that.
Speaker D:And I was probably watching way too many History Channel restoration shows and I was just like, I could fix up a machine, I can do this.
Speaker D:So went on ebay, found like a toy capsule, vending machine, and this, it was dented and it was beat up.
Speaker D:And I was like, all right, well this one looks cheap and easy to do.
Speaker D:And so I got that and started the renovation on it.
Speaker D:And then I quickly realized, like, man, I might be in a little bit over my head on this.
Speaker D:I might not really know what I'm doing.
Speaker D:And this might require a little bit more money to get things started.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:So yeah, then it in the basement for like another 10 years and.
Speaker D:And it was on.
Speaker D:I have a list of Things to do.
Speaker D:I have like some short term projects and long term projects.
Speaker D:So it went to the long term project list and sat there for a long time till I saw that there was a grant opportunity at the University of Rochester, which I'm an alum from.
Speaker D:And there's an office there called the izone, which is the I stands for like innovation or incubator.
Speaker D:And they help students primarily to, you know, help with their startup ideas.
Speaker D:And it doesn't have to be a business, but it can be a non profit or something else.
Speaker D:But this, this grant was called the make it wish or sorry, not make it wish, make it happen grant.
Speaker D:It's a wish too.
Speaker D:Yeah, it does.
Speaker D:Different organization though.
Speaker D:But yeah, no make it happen grant.
Speaker D:So I decided to apply for it the next year and I was like, well, how many alumni can be doing this?
Speaker D:Because it was also for alum or for students.
Speaker D:So luckily I got in, you then go through some workshops and, and, and so then it was just like, great, now I have a deadline and I work way better on deadlines.
Speaker D:So I was like, great, I've got to get this thing going now.
Speaker D: o then, yeah, this past year,: Speaker B:Heck yeah.
Speaker C:That's fantastic.
Speaker C:I love all of that.
Speaker D:I know, sorry, there was a lot there.
Speaker C:No, that was great.
Speaker C:I mean, you have such a wonderful, soothing voice.
Speaker C:Oh, we should give you a book to read before we end this whole situation.
Speaker D:Once upon a time, before we get.
Speaker C:Into the, before we get into the machine part, I'm really curious a little bit more about your like personal creative origin story.
Speaker C:Meaning, like, you know, what were some of your earliest creative compulsions?
Speaker D:Yeah, I mean, as a, you know, as a kid, I always felt like I was decent at drawing.
Speaker D:There was another kid in my class who I was like, well, he's, he's the best drawer, right?
Speaker D:And so, and then there was another guy and I'm like, oh, he's pretty good.
Speaker D:And so sometimes during recess we would just not go outside, we would just draw and do like exquisite monsters and stuff like that.
Speaker D:And so it was always a fun thing and it was always.
Speaker D:I was the youngest of five kids and so I always struggled to find what I was unique at and try to avoid the things that my siblings did.
Speaker D:You know, I was like, oh my.
Speaker D:I have an older brother who was good at sports, so I was staying away from that.
Speaker D:I got a sister who's good at music, so I was staying away from that.
Speaker D:I was just like, what can, you know what, Can I leave my mark?
Speaker D:What can be different about me?
Speaker D:So I probably latched on to that.
Speaker D:And, and yeah, I'll have, you know, encouraging art teacher in high school who, you know, definitely, you know, encouraged me to explore different things.
Speaker D:And, you know, I got into a couple different shows in high school and was just like, oh, wow, you know, that's pretty, you know, that's builds a.
Speaker B:Lot to the high school art teachers.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:100, you know, you know, build some confidence in you.
Speaker D:And then, you know, got a couple, couple gigs.
Speaker D:I, I, I hesitate to even share this story.
Speaker D:And in college, like, I think the dining center once was like, looking for someone to draw posters for certain, like, special events they were doing.
Speaker D:Oh, my God, the posters were terrible.
Speaker D:They were awful.
Speaker B:We've all had those.
Speaker D:Oh my God, it was like, but it was like, I don't know, 100 bucks or 75 bucks or something, which I thought was like, I'm like, oh, that's crazy.
Speaker C:Excited to do something with art.
Speaker D:Oh, man, I had, I had like, colored pencils and a poster board or something.
Speaker D:They were awful.
Speaker D:But whatever it, you know, so, and I, I guess I drew a comic book strip for a newsletter in our dorm and stuff like that.
Speaker D:So it's always been, it's always been like something to tinker with, you know?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So I guess, I guess that's kind of, I just kind of like, muddle through until, yeah.
Speaker D:You know, until Rochester.
Speaker D:And then it really, you know, then there's a community of artists here in Rochester.
Speaker D:And then it was just like, oh, this is this.
Speaker D:There's other people doing the same kinds of things I'm doing.
Speaker D:You know, so then it was just like, oh, my people.
Speaker C:Do you find yourself doing what you did with your siblings, where you see someone doing a thing really well and you're like, oh, maybe I should try something a little different.
Speaker D:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker D:Yep, yep.
Speaker D:And, and that's probably why I've stuck with rubber stamps, because there's not, I mean, there's other print makers and there's other people who really use the same tools and do the same things that I do in Rochester.
Speaker D:But I just take it from a little bit different angle.
Speaker D:People aren't selling them as stamps.
Speaker D:You know, they're kind of like carving a big plate and turning it into a big poster or whatever.
Speaker D:And oh my God, I just worship those people.
Speaker D:But, but yeah, so, so I do, I do, do try to, try to veer in a different direction when I can.
Speaker B:So, yeah, that that's really interesting because then it makes me think about what we were talking about before with the Mystery Art Machine and how you take so much inspiration, it seems like, from other people.
Speaker B:So how did that.
Speaker B:Did you always want it to be a collaborative thing?
Speaker D:No, no.
Speaker B:Was it going to be all your stuff at first?
Speaker D:I'm so glad you said that because.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:When I first thought of the idea and I first bought the machine, I thought, oh, I'll just fill this up with stamps or prints.
Speaker D:I'll take it to a show or whatever.
Speaker D:And it really wasn't until that moment where I was like, I'm like, okay, if I'm going to get a grant for this, this.
Speaker D:Immediately I knew this couldn't just be for me.
Speaker D:Like, just.
Speaker D:It's beyond my personality.
Speaker D:Like, I just don't do well with, like.
Speaker D:Like, oh, okay, this.
Speaker D:I'm just gonna.
Speaker D:This is just gonna be me, and I'm gonna be great at it, and it's gonna be amazing.
Speaker D:I was like.
Speaker D:I was like, this is if.
Speaker D:If I'm accepting money from someone else, I don't care who it is.
Speaker D:It's like, this has to be for others as well as myself.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker D:And so.
Speaker D:So, yeah, immediately in the grant, I was like, okay, this is going to be a shared thing.
Speaker D:We're going to have lots of artists in this.
Speaker D:And one of the goals of the machine is going to be to try to find new art collectors and connect them with Rochester artists.
Speaker D:And that was really one of the main goals from the beginning, as well as being an accessible machine.
Speaker D:And by accessible, I mean one.
Speaker D:Obviously, it's a.
Speaker D:It's a buck, guys.
Speaker D:It's four quarters.
Speaker B:So it's like, we can get some art for a buck.
Speaker D:It's a.
Speaker D:It's a sampler.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So that's accessible right from the.
Speaker D:From that end.
Speaker D:But also where it would be located.
Speaker D:Like, I wanted it to be in spots where you might just be walking by, like.
Speaker D:Like at a laundromat or at a grocery store or at a coffee shop or wherever.
Speaker D:A place that maybe you wouldn't expect to find art or find a machine and have so that, you know, people didn't feel like they had to walk into.
Speaker D:I don't know, like, intimidated by a fancy gallery or someplace else that they, you know, you think of, like, art with a capital A, you know, someplace.
Speaker B:That it's less intimidating.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker B:Because we're all have the nostalgia around, like the.
Speaker B:The quarter vending machines and, like, getting the thing right.
Speaker D:Exactly.
Speaker B:It's Popping it open.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's the little toy capsule two inches wide.
Speaker D:You put the four quarters in it.
Speaker D:Crank, crank, crank, drop.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker C:So yeah, it really is merging these two worlds of like, you know, well, really what people perceive as, or can perceive as artists is the art gallery version of the artist.
Speaker C:But there are so many amazing artists, especially in Rochester, who are contributing to public art and these kinds of projects where it's like really making, creating awareness of the fact that art is everywhere.
Speaker C:I mean, I've been a graphic designer for 25 years and I can't help but always look at art everywhere.
Speaker C:Now we think of it promotionally in terms of graphic design, but it's everywhere.
Speaker C:Colors meaning signage, it's in every single part of our world.
Speaker C:There, there shouldn't be any reason why like illustration or anything that has much more personal depth and expression and story to it to.
Speaker C:It couldn't also be more embedded in our lives.
Speaker D:And that's the same approach that I take with the Machine, right?
Speaker D:We have, we have an application, we have a call for art, but I take everybody, right.
Speaker D:It's not, I'm not discriminating.
Speaker D:You know, we have the application in case there's, you know, as the fail safe.
Speaker D:If someone's sending me racist art or something, then I can take, take that out and say, no, no thank you.
Speaker D:That's not for us.
Speaker D:But, but yeah, it's, it's, it's every.
Speaker D:We've had, you know, we've had big Rochester name artists, if you, if you will.
Speaker D:And we've had, you know, you know, emerging high schoolers who are just learning their trade and just exploring this.
Speaker D:And so it's great to have like just, you know, it is a mini gallery in some ways, right?
Speaker D:It's, it's, it is a, it is a place for people that is to explore and try for the first time, but it's also a place for, you know, someone else that, you know, maybe, hey, maybe you're used to, you know, making huge poster size art and to try to do it in like an inch and a half, and an inch and a half little piece of paper.
Speaker D:Like that's a challenge.
Speaker B:Like I'm submitting to your Mystery Machine this month and I'm just gonna make some painted rocks.
Speaker B:It's gonna be great, like rocks that I got from the side of the lake.
Speaker B:And then there's just gonna be characters of some sort and we will see.
Speaker B:But it's like tiny compared to what I usually work with, which is a great challenge.
Speaker B:Like I Love that.
Speaker D:Yeah, I.
Speaker D:Some other artists have said the same thing.
Speaker D:They're just like, oh, man, I'm so used to working at such a larger scale that this was, like, kind of mind bending, challenging.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And other artists are just kind of shrunk down.
Speaker D:Shrunk down their work into a small size, which is kind of neat.
Speaker D:And others just try to process that.
Speaker D:So it's.
Speaker D:It's exciting to see.
Speaker D:It's exciting to see a little sample, and that's what we want to give them.
Speaker D:It's like going to a chocolate shop and they give you, hey, would you like a free sample?
Speaker D:And you go, oh, my God, this is amazing.
Speaker D:This is awesome.
Speaker D:Great.
Speaker D:Now you've tried it.
Speaker D:Now go follow them on Instagram, Go check them out at a show, go see them at a gallery.
Speaker D:It's an entry point to what the artist is doing.
Speaker B:That's really beautiful.
Speaker B:And is it mostly.
Speaker B:Is it all original pieces, or do you ever have people give you, like, tiny prints or stickers and stuff?
Speaker D:Yeah, both.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:We have.
Speaker D:Yep.
Speaker D:We have original work.
Speaker D:You know, sometimes each individual piece hand drawn, hand painted, handmade, and then.
Speaker D:Yeah, and then we do.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:10 of the same stickers or 10 of the same prints or whatever goes.
Speaker D:And so that's the fun for the.
Speaker D:For the collector.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:For the buyer to know what you're.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's a.
Speaker D:You know, we show everything on Instagram ahead of time, so you kind of know what the artists are in the machine and what you might get.
Speaker D:But when you put those four quarters in there and turn.
Speaker D:Turn the crank.
Speaker D:No, you don't.
Speaker D:You don't know what you're going to.
Speaker B:Get in God's hands now.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So that really keeps.
Speaker D:That really brings the mystery into it and really keeps it kind of fun and nostalgic and childlike and joyful.
Speaker C:So, yeah, that is the fun factor.
Speaker C:There's this book called Joyful I.
Speaker C:For Ingrid something.
Speaker C:I forget who wrote it, but that's.
Speaker C:Those couple of those qualities fit the element of what brings someone joy.
Speaker C:It's surprise and delight.
Speaker C:It's something that's tiny.
Speaker C:There's color to it.
Speaker C:You know, all these different components that come together to make this really delightful project that just makes me think of that.
Speaker C:It's like a weird, random tangent.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So that is Joyful.
Speaker A:The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness by Ingrid Fattel Lee.
Speaker C:Yeah, that's halfway right.
Speaker C:Yay, memorizer.
Speaker B:Got the laptop.
Speaker B:Research.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:We're professionals with a production situation.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was.
Speaker A:I Was glad you mentioned that it could be merchandise or others because I know in the past when Carrie used to do small scale, like originals, she actually did some for a while on like ticket stubs.
Speaker A:Like the actual red on the back of red ticket stubs.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:But the level of detail she would put on that was like she would spend like two hours making one of those.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, you know, really add the detail.
Speaker A:But it was, you know, the challenge becomes your space, the challenge becomes the constraint, which can be very fun and definitely a challenge.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Because it's a lot of work too, to, you know, add that much detail.
Speaker D:To something just different, you know, in a follow up with that, Chris.
Speaker D:And that is, you know, I probably could have set the machine to a free option.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And I always tell the artists, like, listen, the output of this is a dollar.
Speaker D:Like it is a sample of your work.
Speaker D:Like, don't, don't.
Speaker D:If you want to put a lot of time into it, that's up to you.
Speaker D:But it's okay to use scraps.
Speaker D:It's okay to use something that you found.
Speaker D:It's OK to do the same thing in replication.
Speaker D:Because this is, this is a sampler.
Speaker D:But I did want it to have some type of price point.
Speaker D:I did want to have a value.
Speaker D:And I have no problem with free art whatsoever.
Speaker D:I love a good art drop.
Speaker D:I'm out there running the scavenger hunts here in Rochester, trying to grab.
Speaker B:Every time Michael Delarius does a drop, I'm like, where is it?
Speaker D:Where is it?
Speaker D:I've stopped many a time, but.
Speaker D:But I did want this option to be like, hey, okay, you do have to have a little bit of work.
Speaker D:Maybe you got a scrounge through your car for four quarters or maybe you gotta ask someone, hey, do you have an extra dime?
Speaker D:Or whatever.
Speaker D:I need, I need to, I need to get to a quarter here.
Speaker D:Because there is.
Speaker D:Because art does have a value.
Speaker D:And I did want there at least to be that entry point.
Speaker D:So I didn't want it to just be, you know, another.
Speaker D:Another free option.
Speaker D:So I just felt like there was.
Speaker B:There was something exchange makes it special.
Speaker B:It's like, okay, if I'm.
Speaker B:I'm willing to pull out four quarters to do this thing and then it's like you're giving and then as well as receiving, there's something about that loop being completed that's really important.
Speaker C:I can't tell you the number of times I've worked at like a marketing event and I've been giving out swag.
Speaker C:You Know, stuff we all get, and someone will grab a thing and then, like, turn the corner and immediately dump it in the trash.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C:And there's something about just, no matter the price, just putting some sort of skin in the game to just say, like, okay, I invested something of mine into this.
Speaker C:And then I suddenly think about, okay, what does this mean to me?
Speaker C:Like, what can I do with this?
Speaker C:Or, where does this go?
Speaker C:And I think that at least opens up that dialogue in someone's mind to start thinking about that.
Speaker C:So, you know, I think you're totally spot on with the making sure that there's a price associated.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And I'm also curious about what.
Speaker B:So you're collaborating with artists to get their work into the Mystery Machine and, like, spread it far and wide.
Speaker B:You're also collaborating with, like, vendors and locations that you're placing the machine.
Speaker B:So how has that affected your process?
Speaker D:Oh, my God.
Speaker D:It was the one thing that I never.
Speaker D:I didn't expect.
Speaker D:It was the big unknown because I.
Speaker D:I knew a few people with brick and mortar places in town, and I was like, okay, I've got a couple places I could.
Speaker D:Could get this into to get things started and maybe build from there.
Speaker D:But I never realized what an impact the host location would have on me and me on them.
Speaker D:Like, it felt like a good synergy.
Speaker D:And what I mean by this is that I knew, okay, the machine's gonna go into a place.
Speaker D:But in my mind, it was very transactional.
Speaker D:But I didn't expect to, like, build the bonds that I have been building with those host locations and really feel like I'm invested in their business now and, you know, and not financially in any way, but I want them to succeed.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And it's not like I'm not putting in.
Speaker D:Into, you know, any Wegmans or Walmarts or anything right now.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It's small, local businesses.
Speaker D:And so being able to build those relationships with those businesses has been amazing.
Speaker D:And it's been a side effect that I never expected.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Talk for a second about launching it with.
Speaker A:With the team over at Red, White and Brew, because that's a place that is wildly underrated.
Speaker B:Crossovers.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's.
Speaker D:It.
Speaker D:I knew Stacy and Omar.
Speaker D:Stacy and my wife used to work together at the U of R.
Speaker D:And Stacy and I used to curl together.
Speaker D:Chris on the curling club one year.
Speaker A:Oh, I didn't know she was involved with that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker D:For one year.
Speaker A:Oh, wow.
Speaker D:The only way I got my name on a trophy was because Stacy was on my team.
Speaker D:She's a good.
Speaker D:She was a good curler.
Speaker D:She didn't know it, but.
Speaker D:But anyway, amazing people opened up an amazing downtown, and they are a fan of the arts.
Speaker D:They are always hosting First Friday events.
Speaker D:They're always open to people coming in and putting art up.
Speaker D:And so I reached out to her first, and I was like, can I do this?
Speaker D:And she was like, of course.
Speaker D:And so it was a great, great First Friday.
Speaker D:Great way to kick it off.
Speaker D:Great place to go and definitely indebted to them for.
Speaker D:For taking the chance on us.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So they're located over on State street, and the great thing about the place is they really embrace New York State.
Speaker A:So all the different drinks, all the food, everything is basically sourced from New York State alone.
Speaker A:And it's a place that is doing much better work than its presence on the scene.
Speaker A:So would definitely recommend going over and visiting them.
Speaker B:Everyone go to Red, White and Brew right now.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Pretty cool stuff.
Speaker C:And for those who don't, make your own s'mores.
Speaker C:For those who don't know, who have their head in the sand, Stromi has a podcast called Food About Town.
Speaker A:This is true.
Speaker B:Because he knows about things about Town.
Speaker C:He knows Food About Town.
Speaker B:We'll get back into it after this break.
Speaker B:So we've been talking about collaborations, and that's obviously the theme of this season, is focusing on collaboration.
Speaker B:And I'm curious, what.
Speaker B:Did collaboration mean something different to you before you started this particular project?
Speaker B:Has it, like, changed for you over time?
Speaker D:I think so.
Speaker D:I think there's a.
Speaker D:There's an intangible, though, that.
Speaker D:I mean, sure, there's the dictionary definition.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And so I expected that to come out of this, like, okay, I'm going to be talking to artists, and I'm going to be talking to host locations and.
Speaker D:And working with them.
Speaker D:But I think the emotional part, which I don't tap into myself a lot, certainly started coming through early in the project when I started to reach out and how excited the artists were and how giving they were and how much they were willing to put into it and invest into it.
Speaker D:Where I was like, okay, well, maybe, you know, I.
Speaker D:I always hate asking people to do things for me.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:It's like one of those things.
Speaker D:I was just like, you know, the.
Speaker D:My parents were from the classic generation, and the worst thing you could do to someone is overstay your welcome at their home.
Speaker D:And so they were always like, don't stay too long there.
Speaker D:Make sure you come home on time.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:Like, it was like, don't inconvenience people, basically.
Speaker D:And so.
Speaker B:And it just turns into this dark voice at the back of your head.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker B:Inconvenience people.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:And so I always feel.
Speaker D:I always feel like if I.
Speaker D:If I'm going to ask someone for something, I need to give them something in return.
Speaker D:It's always, always like that in.
Speaker D:In me.
Speaker D:But.
Speaker D:But so many artists are willing to give more back, right?
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And some of them were like, hey, I'll give you.
Speaker D:I'll give you art any month you need it.
Speaker D:Call me, let me know.
Speaker D:Or.
Speaker D:Or, hey, I want to.
Speaker D:I want to do.
Speaker D:I had some artists who.
Speaker D:They're like, I want to give you some stuff anonymously.
Speaker D:I don't want anything for this.
Speaker D:I don't want my name on it.
Speaker D:I don't want.
Speaker D:Want you to say anything about it.
Speaker D:I want to give you this for, you know, as part of.
Speaker D:Because I believe in this project.
Speaker D:So I certainly wasn't expecting that as part of the collaborative.
Speaker D:Collaborative process, because I always think of give and take and.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:So sometimes it's.
Speaker D:It's weird to, like, get more in return.
Speaker D:So that's.
Speaker D:That's.
Speaker D:Yeah, that's tricky.
Speaker B:It's like a wild lesson to learn, too.
Speaker B:You're just like, really?
Speaker B:Are you sure?
Speaker B:Yeah, what's the catch?
Speaker B:And they're like, oh, no catch.
Speaker B:It's just like, more love.
Speaker B:Like, love compounding.
Speaker B:And it's really cool that you said something.
Speaker B:People don't even want their names on it because I feel like that's.
Speaker B:That gives me a lot of hope for humanity, that even in this age of social media, we're all about, like, branding and getting our names out there and doing the thing that there's still a lot of people that are just like, I just want to do the thing for the joy of it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:I had an artist who said, I.
Speaker D:I don't.
Speaker D:Instead of putting my name on, because I put a little slip of paper in each capsule, it says who the artist is, and there's a little QR code to follow them, and, you know, the socials and the whole thing.
Speaker D:And they're like, just put on it.
Speaker D:Pay it forward, and I'm gonna put four quarters in the capsule along with the art so that when they get it, they can also buy something else.
Speaker B:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, I love that creativity.
Speaker C:Even in the giving of the creativity.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:That's really wonderful.
Speaker B:That's like living life creatively.
Speaker B:It's really, really beautiful.
Speaker B:I'm wondering if they're.
Speaker B:If there are surprises that have come up for you, like things that you've learned that you weren't really expecting through doing this project.
Speaker D:Yeah, I mean, that was certainly one of them.
Speaker D:Just the generosity of the artists.
Speaker D:But also, you know, I was mentioning before the break, the generosity of the hosts that they're.
Speaker D:They're willing to.
Speaker D:Willing to take this on and promote it.
Speaker D:And I get to promote their business and try to amplify what.
Speaker D:What they're doing as well.
Speaker D:And it just.
Speaker D:It's.
Speaker D:It was always.
Speaker D:Again, I just that I was not expecting that connection.
Speaker D:You know, one month we had it at Nine Spot Brewery, and it happened to be the last month that they were open on their Monroe Ave.
Speaker D:Location.
Speaker D:So I was just like, wow, what an honor I did.
Speaker D:I didn't know that was going to happen.
Speaker D:At the end of it, it was very.
Speaker D:You know, and I felt.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker D:I felt terrible because.
Speaker D:Not because of anything we did, but I was like, I really got to know this place.
Speaker D:I really got to be really comfortable here.
Speaker D:I was like, I'll be back here a lot.
Speaker D:And I was just like, oh, now it's gone.
Speaker D:But on the flip side, roller coaster, the month after, we got to be, the machine put the machine in Montgomery Court Coffee on Park Ave.
Speaker D:And they were just starting up for the very first month.
Speaker D:And so we got to be there on day one and have the machine there.
Speaker D:And that's so cool.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And the hosts keep telling me, they're like, we.
Speaker D:We don't want it to go.
Speaker D:We don't want the machine to leave.
Speaker D:Like, we really like it here.
Speaker D:And so that feels really.
Speaker D:That feels really great.
Speaker A:The machine has been convincing us to not let it leave.
Speaker A:Apparently it's some sort of parasitic, parasitic machine.
Speaker A:This sounds like it's really going into a Stephen Kingian decline.
Speaker C:Apparently, the more meta horror, the more quarters it gets.
Speaker C:It starts doing this weird hypnotic dance.
Speaker B:Well, it does have that eyeball with the hypnosis in the middle.
Speaker B:So it is probably, you know.
Speaker D:Well, I was glad we broke the bad mojo with the next month.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker D:And I was like.
Speaker D:Because I was like, man, if.
Speaker D:If Montgomery Court doesn't do well, I don't want this.
Speaker D:I don't want this curse on this.
Speaker B:Stain on this Mystery Machine.
Speaker C:Is this a.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:Part of my ignorance.
Speaker C:Is this a monthly thing?
Speaker C:Is this something you're continuing indefinitely?
Speaker C:Like, what do you feel like, is the.
Speaker C:The trajectory of this?
Speaker D:That's a great question, Christian.
Speaker D:So at this point in time, I was Just like, let's go as, as long as we can and see where this goes.
Speaker D:Definitely that first year, I felt like, okay, I'm like, all right, who knows?
Speaker D:Maybe this thing's going to peter out after six months.
Speaker D:Maybe no one's going to be interested in this.
Speaker D:I, I had no clue whether it would be successful or not.
Speaker D:But we've had, had over 50 artists in the machine now.
Speaker D:We've, you know, we're going on what, eight, eight or nine different hosts here, depending on when this is out.
Speaker D:So it's, we're going, we're going, we're going.
Speaker D:But I think I've, I think I decided just recently that I'm like, I think I might start throwing in some months off.
Speaker D:A couple reasons.
Speaker D:One, just to give, just give artists a break, like, so they don't hear me every day.
Speaker D:Hey, you wanna, hey, you wanna, you wanna submit some more art?
Speaker D:You wanna submit some more art?
Speaker B:You need to feed the machine.
Speaker D:Right, right, right.
Speaker D:And also, I'm like, okay, I need some opportunities to just like, throw a new coat of paint or touch up some things or if there's some mechanical issues or some things to work on, so.
Speaker D:Or to just come up with some new ideas and refresh.
Speaker D:So it's always, it's, you know, I guess there's an old saying, you don't know that you'll be missed if you don't go away.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker D:So sometimes you need to just kind of like put it on pause and so, so we might build some breaks here.
Speaker D:Coming up soon.
Speaker A:I, I think the thing I could recommend having done things that are on a weekly or bi weekly or other basis for multiple years at a time with nominate, and obviously with this is, yes, put a break in there.
Speaker A:Because what you don't want to be is resentful of the cadence.
Speaker A:You don't want to be resentful of the work because this is fun work.
Speaker A:This is, this is work that makes you feel better about the community that you're in.
Speaker A:And I think you don't want to get to the point where you start to resent it.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Otherwise it turns into Frankenstein's machine.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker C:Frankenstein's little.
Speaker C:A little art machine.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:It is in love with the monster.
Speaker B:So you gotta let him miss the monster a little bit, you know?
Speaker A:Very scared of fire.
Speaker A:Very scared of fires.
Speaker C:Let's go to our next band name, Miss the Monster.
Speaker D:Put it on a T shirt.
Speaker C:Yeah, right.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And that, that reminds me something else too, Chris.
Speaker D:And that is like, it's, I mean, this is at its best month.
Speaker D:If the machine breaks even, that's a success.
Speaker D:I'm not making any money.
Speaker D:The artists aren't making really any money.
Speaker D:I mean, I'm paying artists what, what we're putting, what, what's coming out of the machine, giving it back to them.
Speaker D:It's, it's, it's a break even model.
Speaker D:So, so yeah, there's no, there's no one's getting rich off of this idea.
Speaker D:And it's really, it's really for the fun of it.
Speaker D:And it's really to try to, you know, again, as an artist, sometimes you get tired of screaming into the Internet, right?
Speaker D:Like, hey, look at me, or hey, look at my work, or hey, come to my show, or hey, look at, look at what I made.
Speaker D:Check me out.
Speaker D:And it's, it's just another way to do a little bit of promotion, but also just again, like we were talking about before, like, challenge you to do, look in a different way or do something else or do something just for fun.
Speaker D:Like you might find like, hey, I'm, I'm painting these rocks and I had a good time doing it.
Speaker D:Or, or I've had artists who've come to me giving me their work, and they go, that was a pain in the butt.
Speaker D:And they're like.
Speaker D:And I was just like, well, why'd you do, why'd you put so much into it?
Speaker C:Why did you do that to yourself?
Speaker D:That, to yourself?
Speaker D:But you know what I mean?
Speaker D:Sometimes you just, you just feel like, I've got to, I got to do this, I got to finish this, I got to make this thing.
Speaker D:And so, but they've come back and I was like, okay, keep it a little simpler next time.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker D:And they've come back and done other things.
Speaker B:So, yeah, people are learning lessons, having a great experience, just like playing, I don't know.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I mean, that small size really creates that really fascinating constraint.
Speaker C:I mean, that's like the paradox of being an artist.
Speaker C:Like when you're young, as a kid, you feel like you just want to throw your art on everything and have no constraints and total freedom.
Speaker C:But as you get older and you get more seasoned as an artist, it's like those constraints are incredibly powerful.
Speaker C:And I couldn't think of a more potent constraint than this little, little thing in a, in a Frankenstein machine.
Speaker B:Well, and I also love to your point, earlier, you were talking about how we, you know, we kind of get sick of yelling into the void.
Speaker B:And I've noticed, and I'm sure you've Noticed through this process that it's like so much more fun to shout out other people stuff.
Speaker B:So then if we're just cross promoting and collaborating in that way, you with the vendors and with the other artists, it's just like, then it becomes fun to self promote because we're all promoting each other.
Speaker B:So then it's just like, oh, it's just me and my friends cheering on the Internet.
Speaker B:That's great.
Speaker B:That's way more fun.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker D:And, yeah, I mean, there's a self consciousness to it too.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker D:Like, I mean, some people probably, it's not.
Speaker D:It's not as much, but, like, the months that I don't put my own work in the machine, it's almost like, oh, I get to cyber.
Speaker D:I'm like, I have enough artists this month that are like, who want to do it.
Speaker D:I'm like, I don't need to put anything in this month.
Speaker D:There's enough people.
Speaker D:I got enough capsules to fill the machine.
Speaker D:Let's go.
Speaker D:You know, and so it's.
Speaker D:It's certainly not about me.
Speaker D:And it is.
Speaker D:It feels so good to be able to say, like, hey, check out this person.
Speaker D:You've never seen this person.
Speaker D:I guarantee it.
Speaker D:Or look at what.
Speaker D:And obviously I'm meeting.
Speaker D:Sure.
Speaker D:I started with reaching out to some of the artists that I knew to get things going, but.
Speaker D:But since then, it's taken off and I've met so many people and seen what they do, and I'm like, where.
Speaker D:Why did I not know about this person yet?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker D:So, yeah, it's.
Speaker D:It's very rewarding.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And like, Ms.
Speaker B:Art.
Speaker B:Art vending machines still are kind of a rare thing.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Thankfully, it's like, not a thing that's at saturation yet.
Speaker B:So it's still kind of just.
Speaker B:I wouldn't.
Speaker B:Don't even want to say hot commodity, but it's like, it's rare.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It's special.
Speaker B:It's fun.
Speaker B:So I'm wondering what kind of feedback you've gotten from, like, the public about it.
Speaker B:It sounds like you've built a lot of relationships.
Speaker D:Yeah, I mean, the.
Speaker D:The one challenge I'll share that I feel like we're having is I want the.
Speaker D:I want the artist to also hear what I'm hearing.
Speaker D:Because as the, you know, as the center of the wheel here that's spinning, I sometimes get the feedback from the host location.
Speaker D:I know.
Speaker D:Like, hey, they.
Speaker D:They're telling me how many have sold or I'm going in and I'm seeing the quarters come out of the machine.
Speaker D:I know that art is out in the community, but if, but if a collector, if a buyer isn't, you know, tagging that artist online or something, they don't know, like they're not getting that feedback.
Speaker D:And so trying to, you know, trying to educate, like, hey, it's like, you know, when you buy a capsule, like the work's not done.
Speaker D:Like let the artists know, like, because that's going to make them feel way more excited than the, the dollar that I paid them to put them in the capsule.
Speaker D:Like that is the thing that really gets them at the end of the day is that someone appreciated what they did.
Speaker D:Or hey, I started following you, or hey, I came to a show afterwards.
Speaker D:So you know, tag, follow them, do whatever you want, reach out with them, email them, send them a note, whatever.
Speaker D:Like that's things.
Speaker D:So I want them to have the feedback back from them.
Speaker D:But, but yeah, the people who have, who have, you know, talked that, I've talked to it, you know, they're excited.
Speaker D:Quick, quick example.
Speaker D:That first month at Red, White and Brew.
Speaker D:I'm sitting at the bar, end of the night, four people come in.
Speaker D:No, three, three people.
Speaker D:Two guys and a woman.
Speaker D:They come in.
Speaker D:They had just gone to the, to the sketchy show.
Speaker A:Oh, awesome.
Speaker B:Oh, nice.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker D:And they, they came in and I lear, they came all the way from Buffalo and they had heard somehow that the machine was just down the street.
Speaker D:So they came down to check it out.
Speaker D:They must have pumped $20 in quarters in it.
Speaker D:They were like, they were like 13 year old boys again.
Speaker D:They were like they were coming because I had a box of quarters.
Speaker D:They kept coming back to me.
Speaker D:They're coming like, here's five bucks.
Speaker D:Hit me again.
Speaker D:And they were just going back and pulling, pulling stuff out and they're like, oh, look at this.
Speaker D:Oh look at this.
Speaker D:Oh, I got one of these.
Speaker D:I got one of this.
Speaker D:And so you can just see that like, you know, just going back to your childhood, but also excited about the work too.
Speaker D:So, so yeah, the feedback is amazing when you get to see those things and, and the opportunities that we've had to have a few first Fridays and, and to be able to interact with people, what, you know, watching them in the machine.
Speaker D:I do, you know, I do hope more of the artists can come out when we do have those types of openings to see that because that's really, it's really important to see that feedback.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Have you done any events that are like Mystery Machine specific or have you just like tagged Onto other First Friday events.
Speaker D:Yeah, mostly tagging.
Speaker D:Tagging along on that first month was, you know, we were kind of featured along with the other art in the place, but which, in fact, was the.
Speaker D:Oh, I'm totally blanking on the great name that Magnus and Gia and John Perry and what's their crew called?
Speaker D:Oh.
Speaker B:Oh, well, help.
Speaker D:Sorry.
Speaker D:It used to be we have a.
Speaker C:Man with a computer.
Speaker C:Quick, quick.
Speaker C:Man in the chair.
Speaker B:No, as soon as he says it, I'm gonna feel really dumb about it.
Speaker D:Anyway, they had amazing artwork there that month.
Speaker D:There was, like, a sci Fi theme.
Speaker D:And so it was the group of.
Speaker B:Them that do a bunch.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker D:So I can't remember what the group name is.
Speaker B:We'll put it in the show notes.
Speaker D:Show notes.
Speaker D:We'll shout them out.
Speaker B:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker B:Well, I.
Speaker B:So my proposal in the moment is that I feel like we should do, like, a mystery murder mystery dinner event situation, and it should be all about the Mystery Machine.
Speaker B:Because I'm thinking about, like, how you used to do letterboxing, and it was all, like, connected to clues.
Speaker B:People had to follow.
Speaker B:So in my brain, it was like, oh, that should all go into one.
Speaker B:We should make an event and there should be costumes.
Speaker C:Real time collaboration.
Speaker B:So that's my thoughts.
Speaker D:That actually sounds really, really cool.
Speaker D:We had some art.
Speaker B:The podcast will.
Speaker B:Will underwrite your event.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker A:Super exciting.
Speaker C:So you're saying putting quarters in the machine and then, like, clues come out and then you follow those clues, or maybe.
Speaker B:I think it should be a celebration of the machine, but then the whole venue should be full of, like, clues and things that people, you know, experience the space.
Speaker B:I don't know.
Speaker B:I'm still spitballing on this idea.
Speaker B:It's just the germ of an idea, but.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Will there be mystery?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Will there be art?
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Will there be a machine?
Speaker C:Yes, probably.
Speaker B:Hopefully.
Speaker A:So I think what I wanted to do before.
Speaker A:Before we close out, I kind of wanted you to talk.
Speaker A:So we talked a lot about collaboration and all these things.
Speaker A:But a lot of the work you do is fundamentally detailed solo work.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, it's.
Speaker A:It's along the lines of whittling.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Where it's.
Speaker A:This can be meditative but very specific and, you know, a lot of work by yourself.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Has.
Speaker A:Has that changed as part of this, or is that still the same process going through that?
Speaker D:Wow, that's.
Speaker D:That's interesting, Chris.
Speaker D:I hadn't thought about it that way, but.
Speaker D:But, yeah, my practice is very, like.
Speaker D:You know, I used to just Sit in the basement and put on some podcasts and listen to that and carve.
Speaker D:And now, you know, I've got a studio over at Central Creatives, it's called over at the Piano Works in East Rochester.
Speaker D:And I sit in there alone listening to podcasts and, and yeah, I didn't think about that.
Speaker D:But yeah, this project with the mini Mystery Art Machine certainly feeds that other need to, like, reach out and connect with people that sometimes certainly, you know, even in my day job, I, you know, I work for it and sit at my house and sit at the computer all day alone.
Speaker D:And so, yeah, I guess this, this does, this does feed a need for that and, and helps to balance that out because, yeah, my, my work is very, you know, very detailed and I have.
Speaker D:Luckily I'm very near sighted and I can see really well and my hands still work well, so I still keep carving.
Speaker D:And that's where the magic, that's where I hit my flow state, right?
Speaker D:Like I, I throw in a podcast, I'm carving away.
Speaker D:Time disappears.
Speaker D:That's the part that I love.
Speaker D:I never wanted to switch to manufacturing stamps because it was this, that was the moment that was the magic for me was the actual carving part.
Speaker D:So that's what I continue to do.
Speaker A:That's awesome.
Speaker C:If you could lend your voice to any book, you just read a book and that was your legacy, that you were the person that read this book aloud and was recorded somewhere, what book or genre would you choose that represents you?
Speaker D:Oh, represents me.
Speaker D:Well, I love fantasy, so it would probably have to be something, you know, reading like the Lord of the Rings or something, I guess, or.
Speaker D: so, you know, Star wars kid,: Speaker D:So that was, that was my jam too.
Speaker D:So.
Speaker D:Although I feel like fantasy would be the way to go.
Speaker C:Excellent.
Speaker D:But.
Speaker D:But I'm also a sucker for survival stories, you know, like Into Thin Air, John Krakauer, you know, that kind of stuff.
Speaker B:How your voice literally changed when you talking about survival story.
Speaker B:You're like, I'm into survival.
Speaker C:Excited.
Speaker D:I was just watching another NETFLIX documentary about Mount Everest last night, so I can't seem to get enough of them.
Speaker D:It's like, yeah, I don't, I don't know, it's fun.
Speaker D:I, I never want to do it, but I'm always fascinated by the story.
Speaker A:This is John Ballou reading Survivor man, the Les Stroud story.
Speaker B:Coming up next.
Speaker B:This whole podcast was just a commercial.
Speaker C:It always is.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:John, why don't you send your plugs out there so for everybody, where they can find the machine now and where they can find out where it's coming next on your social medias and things.
Speaker C:Hair plugs and otherwise.
Speaker D:Sure, yeah.
Speaker D:Right now the machine is currently at the University of Rochester at Wilson Commons, but it is selling out out fast.
Speaker D:So probably by the time you hear this, it will probably be gone from there because they are moving, moving, moving that are over there.
Speaker D:In December though, you can find it at Book Eater in the South Wedge, right next to Swill Burger.
Speaker D:If you haven't been to Book Eater, it is an amazing little cafe and a bookstore.
Speaker D:And then in January, easy enough to find, you can get back on your health food kick by going to Lori's Natural Foods and finding the Machine.
Speaker D:So should be easy to get to the next two months.
Speaker A:Very cool.
Speaker D:So much promotion on this podcast and then I'm.
Speaker D:I can be.
Speaker D:And you can find the Mini Mystery Art Machine on Instagram.
Speaker D:It's Mini Mystery Art Machine.
Speaker D:My apologies.
Speaker D:It's all one word.
Speaker D:It's a long word, but it's Mini Mystery Art Machine.
Speaker D:And you can find me Jack Bear Stamps on Facebook or Instagram.
Speaker D:All one word.
Speaker D:Jack Bear Stamps.
Speaker B:And it's all in the show.
Speaker B:Notes.
Speaker D:This has been a presentation of the Lunchroom Podcast Network.
Speaker A:I'd like to finish with two quotes, the first from Ingrid Fatelli.
Speaker A:But the God of good taste demands sacrifices, and it's always the weird, quirky, awkward parts of ourselves that are first to be thrown on the pyre.
Speaker A:Yet the weird, quirky, awkward parts are where the surprises lie and therefore a great deal of joy.
Speaker A:The second is a related question from an equally important Quora why did God send bears to kill 42 children for making fun of a bald man?
