Date of the work: 2023
Medium: Vending machine* and mixed media
Exhibition history: Prestorjha (2023)
The commodification of culture as well as the commercialisation of objects as tourist experiences clearly caught the artist’s attention when she created Magna tal-Arti. This is an installation consisting of a vending machine that dispenses limited-edition objects Tabone created to accompany the other works of art exhibited in her Prestorjha exhibition.
The limited-edition objects that Tabone offers in her Magna tal-Arti are very much in keeping with the expectations of anyone who is already familiar with her broader body of work. These objects are arguably interchangeable, and yet the artist picked these specifically and deliberately to reinforce the narrative she offers through the works exhibited in the Prestorjha series.
A set of ceramic white plates bearing a line-drawing illustration of Fjur hold pride of place within this vending machine installation. Most of the other objects offered here include three iterations of the figure Tabone created for Ninfa, which is also the basis for the shape of Speculum. A miniature (height: 13cm – same as the so-called Venus of Malta) with the title Dol-Men, evidently another word game by the artist. This is also available as a delicate gold pendant, entitled Micro-Mystique.
The acquisition of the wares available through the vending machine constitutes an opportunity for interactivity between the artist and her audience. As this is a performance of sorts, the work is both time-based (it only existed during the run of the exhibition) and ephemeral (transitory creations made specifically to be retained or preserved individually by collectors rather than the artist). Ephemerality is further emphasized through the free-of-charge dispensing of a sheet of paper containing the site plan for the 2023 Prestorjha exhibition along with a curatorial note.
* Commercial vending machine owned by Vertex Vending Services Ltd.
