
A view of the Show and Tell food truck via Victoria Howe’s Facebook profile page (via facebook.com/victoria.yee.howe_)
In the era of food trucks, pop-up shops and temporary restaurants, when even underground dance parties are thrown in the bays of parked U-Haul trucks, it’s surprising that more of the art world isn’t getting on board with this wonderfully lo-fi business model that optimizes exposure through social media and the internet and requires minimal entry costs. (The going daily rate for a U-Haul box truck is still $19.99, with nominal fees for mileage).
Zines featured in Show and Tell, a DIY mobile gallery and food truck (photo by the author) (click to enlarge)
Enter Show and Tell, an ambitious foray into the world of the DIY mobile gallery organized by Sierra Stinson, a Seattle-based artist and part-time gallerist, and Victoria Yee Howe, a New York-based conceptual artist and former pastry chef. The eclectic, thoughtfully curated show reflected the vested interests of its co-creators: The printed works, organized by Yee Howe, was heavy on food ‘zines (to my delight); the remainder of the art, organized by Stinson, was a conscious 50/50 split representing artists from Seattle and New York.
The truck roamed the streets of lower Manhattan and Brooklyn for two days in mid-August, luring visitors and curiosity-seekers with TwitPics and the promise of cake (more on that in a moment). Being something of an aficionado of pop-up and mobile enterprises, food projects in particular, I was curious as to how these art-preneurs adapted the pop-up model to create a successful art project on wheels. Here’s how the creators of Show and Tell worked it:
Artful treats like Yee Howe’s cake entice visitors to check out “Show and Tell” (photo by the author) (click to enlarge)
Inclement weather aside, Show and Tell ran with relative ease — which bodes well for future food-truck/mobile gallery mash-ups. The big-picture goal would be to take the show to other cities in the US, Stinson mentioned. I say, let there be cake.
The Show and Tell mobile gallery ran in several locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn from August 13 – 14, 2011.
great idea! Me and a couple friends use a Ryder truck-as-gallery to thwart the geographic isolation of the SouthWest:
http://www.ryderjonpiotrs.wordpress.com