Free Shit.

Shit Is Coming T-shirt, Andres Serrano

Made my second trip to the Free Store on Thursday. I was donating some stuff, but I ended up leaving with a Shit Is Coming t-shirt by Andres Serrano. Apparently he heard about the project and sent some t-shirts over. While Serrano won my cool successful artist award for the day, the Free Store creators Athena Robles and Anna Stein definitely clinched the Artists du jour prize. I mean, seriously. Stop it.

As thought provoking an experience as it was to take something from the store last week, it was just as challenging when it came to donating items (a bottle of CdG 71, Black Metal and Hawaiian Slack Key guitar CDs). Commerce gets into our bones, and our little skeletons start rattling when it's taken away from us.

There was also an interesting moment when I found out that the shirts were by Serrano. I had been thinking about asking for one, but I was ready to walk out of the store without it. Then, when they mentioned that it was Serrano, I spoke right up. When it comes to art, I'm greedy. I already knew that. But the pretty bald fact that I was confronted with was how quickly the t-shirt leapt from novelty clothing to art. Would I have thought about all the jabs at culture the shirt takes if it hadn't had an artist's name connected to it? Probably. Would I have thought of it's market value? Probably not. Either way, I'm thrilled I had to ask.