Inside Jokes

12” wide x 8” deep x 16" high

Mixed Media

2023

My art does not fit nicely into the traditional gallery arrangement. Often I create prototypes that are intended to be exhibited, but not sold. I learn from the interactions and make adjustments. I use parts from previous projects to make new work. This is not a sustainable practice if I ever expect to make a living from my art work.

Inside Jokes is the first piece I’ve created for pure profit. For a quarter, the viewer will receive a approximately 2” long comic strip derived from my interpretations of my Dad’s failed New Yorker submissions. Collect all 84 images!

A note about the mechanism: It was originally produced in Detroit by the Schermack Corporation to vend “sanitary postage stamps” following the 1918 flu pandemic. It was thought that licking postage stamps spread disease and this machine ensured that your stamps were not touched by human hands. This piece was developed nearly 101 years later during a different pandemic.