No subliminal images, no devil worship and no displays of carnality

May 23, 2024 2:23 AM

One of the most unusual heists in America seems to be unfolding at Taco Bell
posted by Ten Cold Hot Dogs (35 comments total)

Soon a counterfeit market will emerge. And greetings at four a.m. mst
posted by mecran01 at 3:02 AM on May 23

> there were still a few basic rules he had to follow: No “subliminal images,” no “devil worship” and no “displays of carnality,”

this framework of rules was introduced after corporate's prior attempt to procure artwork failed, following a tender round where artists were required to limit their submissions to include at most two of {subliminal messages, devil worship, displays of carnality}.
posted by are-coral-made at 3:12 AM on May 23 [7 favorites]

a counterfeit market will emerge
counterfit tacos?
posted by HearHere at 3:16 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

“It was a challenging palette.”

there's a Taco Bell challenging palate joke in here somewhere
posted by chavenet at 4:24 AM on May 23 [7 favorites]

there's also a 'runs for the border' joke that's not quite gelling for me
posted by logicpunk at 4:38 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

How many of these were made that people are willing to pay thousands of dollars??? But also charming that there's no corporate policy around these and so it's up to the rank and file employees to steal them / rescue them from the trash.
posted by subdee at 4:40 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]

I mean, it's not to my taste? But if you do like it and want one, and it's just going in a dumpster? Appel, avanti, go with gusto, my friends.
posted by mephron at 4:44 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Did ANYONE pay 1000s of dollars yet? For sale and sold are different. The prints seems to sell occasionally but I can't see any evidence the paintings have sold for any significant value.

Super fun for the artist tho!
posted by tiny frying pan at 4:50 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Who’s going to claim the sock puppet name Former International Lotion Salesman?
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:55 AM on May 23 [21 favorites]

Did ANYONE pay 1000s of dollars yet? For sale and sold are different.

I'm weirdly okay with people wildly speculating on the value of nonfungible prints that were mined from Taco Bell dumpsters. It gives them something to do.
posted by RonButNotStupid at 5:29 AM on May 23 [11 favorites]

I live across the street from a Taco Bell, but haven't stepped inside for 10-15 years (for the usual reasons). If I'd known they had interesting art on the walls, I would have paid a visit now and then. The only thing I don't get about this article: the Basquiat influences are obvious, but what does Smith mean by his work "paying homage to Maxfield Parrish"?
posted by kozad at 5:36 AM on May 23 [4 favorites]

How is this a heist? This is bullshit framing to get clicks and ... it worked. Fuckety bye.
posted by seanmpuckett at 5:42 AM on May 23 [8 favorites]

I haven't been in a Taco Bell in over 20 years (though I used to go often when I was young and tight on money). I think these prints are pretty cool—way nicer artwork than I would have expected from a Taco Bell. I do know Taco Bell have been opening "Cantinas" that sell beer and margaritas, and they have a more "upscale" (if still corporate) look from the outside (though I haven't been in one of those ever, there's one I pass fairly frequently).

Anyway, cool corporate artwork. I'm kind of surprised. I wouldn't pay for one, but I do like them.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:44 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

I like the style and wild colors. I would consider buying a print of "Empty" without the Taco Bell lettering (for a reasonable price that isn't 10k). Though, I thought it was a funny yellow critter with a snout and actually that snout is a gauge and his real toothy mouth opens to the left (and is less cute).

lol seanmpuckett (truth)
posted by Glinn at 6:31 AM on May 23

Hmmm, being American take on Mexican food, I guess I can understand limiting the artist to no displays of chili con carnality.
posted by BlueHorse at 6:48 AM on May 23 [7 favorites]

Gosh, I want to be an international lotion sales person. Imagine the perks and the convention swag! I'd be so soft and smooth.
posted by atomicstone at 6:52 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

I remember when Moe's got busted for their artwork and menu like 20 years ago and crowd-sourced their wall art too.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/01/13/moes.garcia/
posted by mikelieman at 6:53 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

Holy shit. My wife and I had one of our first dates in San Francisco at the two-story Taco Bell on California street out in the Richmond district. We both absolutely loved that art and were amazed that it was in a Taco Bell. I never knew who painted them! Now I must hunt on eBay for a print.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:00 AM on May 23 [10 favorites]

I love this genre of corporate art. It's visually interesting, and fresh, but also a bit bland and inoffensive. The mass production devalues it but also makes it accessible. It's more than just decoration but less than just Fine Art. It's good.

Reminded of a series of paintings I saw in a hotel in Houston, TX. All paintings of offshore oil wells, hazy and somewhat abstracted. On-theme for The Energy Capital of the World. Also very J.G. Ballard.

The Taco Bell artist is Mark T Smith, here is his website. He's had a fair amount of success with corporate art but also presents himself as a gallery fine artist.
posted by Nelson at 7:45 AM on May 23 [3 favorites]

Unlike you fine connoisseurs of food, my kids and wife's family love Taco Bell ad the Taco Bell taco-puter is by far the best in-store ordering portal in the business, so I've seen a lot of these paintings, think Taco Bell's current design aesthetic of their stores is pretty unique, and the taco radio station is just fine.

Also Taco Bell, like most fast food joints, have moved into generic looking buildings that are easily repurposed when a better location is identified and they bail, and when they remain, they remodel regularly, so it's probably pretty easy for employees/contractors to steal these paintings.

I personally don't think much of the actual paintings, but I can see why people would like them = they totally hit that Gen-X 'mess' aesthetic, and I have several old concert ads that aren't that different.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:47 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

I was so enamored by the t-shirts worn by employees during McDonalds' weird "WcDonalds" marketing campaign that, within a few weeks of launch and while the promotion was going on I went on eBay, and sure enough, there were dozens, if not hundreds, of t-shirts for sale in all sizes, I assume from employees making $40 on the side for the ones they were given for work.

More surprisingly were the number of "shipped from Vietnam" versions already on the market, using clearly lower-quality t-shirts. Pirating the marketing materials of one of the world's largest corporations, within weeks of it being released? Late-stage capitalism indeed.

Note that I haven't included a link to the specific shirt -- it's easy to find if you Google -- because Google's searches are absolutely deluged with pirate copies of the shirt, I can't find an official photo of the shirt, everything Google gives me is likely to be an illicit copy unless I dig deeply into eBay listings, which I don't feel like doing.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:59 AM on May 23

imagine the smell
posted by scruss at 8:06 AM on May 23 [5 favorites]

I'm sorry, taco-puter? Is that your name for it or the actual name. Because it's accurate, simplistic and gross. I'm aware I could google, but I find "taco-puter" to be such a car-crash style name that I can't trust myself not to rubberneck about it for the next 6 hours if I look.
(Not judging the taco bell attendance. I used to love that dirt cheap several layer vegetarian burrito thing at del taco. And those fuckers sell fries.)
posted by atomicstone at 8:23 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

I'm sorry, taco-puter?

It's my name for it. I think it's called the ordering portal or something, it's on really long ipad type computers, and allows amazing levels of customization for each item, which employees are (generally) able to provide.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:49 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

Holy shit. My wife and I had one of our first dates in San Francisco at the two-story Taco Bell on California street out in the Richmond district. We both absolutely loved that art and were amazed that it was in a Taco Bell. I never knew who painted them! Now I must hunt on eBay for a print.

I've got one I'll sell you for the very reasonable price of $11K!

It's not a proper con until there's speculation and rentiers
posted by Mayor West at 9:12 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

displays of carnality

Do they allow displays of carne asada?
posted by Joey Michaels at 9:39 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

imagine the smell

Ha, that was the first thing I thought about. I once bought art off the wall in a bar pre-smoking ban in our town, and it took FOREVER for it to smell neutral.
posted by 41swans at 9:51 AM on May 23 [1 favorite]

There is a very small TB location near me that has all three of these prints still on display. They absolutely dominate the space, which is only big enough inside to seat maybe four customers. On the rare occasions when I'm in there, I can't help but be captivated by them—up close, they are so full of detail and energy that it's hard not to just stare at them for a couple of minutes until my order is ready. Very interesting to learn more about their origins!

I don't agree that fast food employees making off with pieces of decor that would otherwise have been discarded in a renovation is anything close to "One of the most unusual heists in America," but whatever you say, sfgate clickbait headline writer.
posted by angrynerd at 11:08 AM on May 23 [2 favorites]

there's a Taco Bell challenging palate joke in here somewhere

it was on the tip of my tongue...
posted by chavenet at 11:26 AM on May 23

I don't eat at TB but I quite like those paintings! they are very vibrant and dynamic.
posted by supermedusa at 12:32 PM on May 23

what does Smith mean by his work "paying homage to Maxfield Parrish"?

I think by "paying homage to Maxfield Parrish" he means "exactly the opposite of Maxfield Parrish." But seriously, if you look at the three Taco Bell paintings, they are layered. They start with a blue layer, then add a red layer, then a yellow layer. And Parrish famously used transparent oil paints this way to achieve a luminous effect, painting first a blue layer, then a red layer, then a yellow layer. Here's an example using this technique that I painted.
posted by jabah at 2:13 PM on May 23 [2 favorites]

I'm at the combination art heist and Taco Bell (what)
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 4:41 PM on May 23 [2 favorites]

And, of course:
MetaFilter: No subliminal images, no devil worship and no displays of carnality
posted by The Ardship of Cambry at 4:43 PM on May 23 [1 favorite]

I don't know, my hamburglar glass is worth like 30 bucks.
posted by clavdivs at 5:20 PM on May 23

Speaking of corporate art, ages ago I was very taken with an old-school romantic painting in a California hotel, and idly considered stealing one -- since they had so many of that print that not only all rooms had the same painting, they hung two copies of that painting in the same room side by side!

(If one's curious, it's Marcus Stone's "In Love" https://nottinghammuseums.org.uk/oil-painting-in-love-by-marcus-stone/)
posted by of strange foe at 7:30 PM on May 23 [2 favorites]