Location: Hamilton House, Bristol

The Venice Vending Machine project is a conceptual live-art installation originally conceived and created by Venetian artist Marina Moreno in the summer of 2010.

It seeks to present and promote emerging and already established artists during prestigious art events, whilst reflecting and opening a dialogue with the audience about the value of art in our society. The Venice Vending Machine is a project that travels to prominent artistic sites worldwide responding each time to a different theme, determined by the place where it exhibits whilst growing as an international union of artists and reputation.

A large part of the work is to instigate, cultivate and promote an exchange amongst artists, cultural associations and art professionals internationally, always encouraging active and direct participation with the public.

The live art process, essential to the installation is public, performative, inclusive participatory, interactive, educational and collectively aimed at empowering artists internationally and promoting future collaborations.

Drawing from her live art background, Marina opens the dialogue to the audience by posing the question: “How do you value art?”

Here all the art works become equal and the “buyer” decides a value by offering a symbolic offer in exchange for a token without knowing which art piece he/she will receive following an exchange examining art and why we need art in our society. From here an ongoing dialogue is spurred depicting many facets of the relationship that the public and the art professional have with art amongst which are:

Individual views about how art promotes intrinsic values in our life and society.

?How does art influence our ideas about our past, our historical values and how it informs our present and our future?

Playfulness is essential to creativity and quintessential to art.

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