Friday, January 17, 2020

Mysteries: Who placed these pink gumball machines along Avenue A?



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Updated below

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You may have seen these pink gumball machines fastened to light poles along Avenue A... there are at least two — one at 13th Street and one at Seventh Street...



As far as anyone can recall, they showed up some time between Saturday night and Tuesday morning, though no one seems to know for sure.

And the machines accept quarters (thank you Jason Charles for lending me a quarter!) ... and for that price, the machine dispenses one pink gumball (I remember when these were a nickel!) ...


[Gumball or palm not actual size]

Not immediately trusting of mysterious pink gumball machines dispensing pink gumballs, a careful analysis was conducted of the sphere...



Preliminary results show that this is, indeed, a ball of chewing gum in a candied shell.

No word just at the moment who might have placed these here... and, more important, why.

Updated 1/18

Thanks to tbar in the comments... turns this is a promo related to Machinegum, a new side project from Fab Moretti of the Strokes. (It's a good record BTW.)

More from the press release about the machines:

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.

There's also an art opening related to all this on Jan. 28.

12 comments:

  1. Well, it's cheaper than trying to rent a storefront to sell gumballs.

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  2. Hoping it dispensed Pepto-Bismol. for heading home after a night of binging.

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  3. Cool photos of the gum ball EVGrieve! It is possible that whomever installed these will be coming around late at night to collect the coins, lol, yeah! Or maybe they are thinking, why pay thousands of dollars for a storefront. Or it's just an art piece? It's a Pink mystery for sure!

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  4. And just because one gumball examined was okay does not mean that the others are okay. But go ahead and play russian roulette if you are game.

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  5. For some reason I'm picturing that scene in Donnie Brasco where the Al Pacino character is trying the smash a parking meter open with a hammer.

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  6. I bet its Banksy-
    perhaps one lucky winner gets a real pink pearl.

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  7. Gorgeous. Where else would people do stunts like this and be met with overwhelming approval? EV QoL <3

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  8. Social experiment!

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  9. ALIEN GUMBALLS...They are testing to see how SUCKERISH Humans can be.

    ReplyDelete
  10. This may perhaps be the source...
    https://instagram.com/machinegum?igshid=m0szgzbg8gxo

    ReplyDelete

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