-Coffin Bank- mechanical bank c. 20th century

Editor: So, here we have the "*Coffin Bank*," a mechanical bank from around the 20th century, using mixed-media, including metal and collage. There's a real macabre sense of humor about it that kind of gives me the creeps! What jumps out at you about this strange piece? Curator: Oh, this little contraption! It's like a carnival sideshow in a box. For me, the kitsch factor is HUGE. The crude rendering of horror cliches – the spiderwebs, the vaguely zombie-ish hand – it's all so deliberately…underwhelming! It evokes that deliciously terrible feeling you get from a low-budget haunted house. Does it give you a sense of being transported into an earlier era? Editor: Definitely! I can see how this would have been popular decades ago. But why a *bank*? Was it supposed to be ironic? Curator: Good question! It really throws into stark relief society’s, and perhaps our own anxieties regarding finances; mortality made into a child's toy… morbid. But what's money *for*, after all, if not to delay the inevitable? Editor: That's a bit dark, but I get it! Maybe this toy encourages you to save, since… you can't take it with you? Curator: Exactly! Plus, think about the sounds it probably makes! The *clink* of the coin… the *whirr* of the mechanism…pure theatre. Don’t you feel the ghoulishness mixed with playfulness is part of it's magic? Editor: For sure, this was way more insightful and humorous than I anticipated. So, even the creepy can teach us a little something about ourselves! Curator: Always, my dear! And art, especially the seemingly 'low' art, has a fantastic way of sneaking those lessons in when we least expect it.