At first, I didn't know what to make of the ceramic pandas, brain Jell-O mold, Pizza Keepa ("protect your za!!!"), and other hilarious and strange objects, set against a clouded sky background, on Rob Pruitt's Instagram. Were they artworks or adverts? As it turns out, they're both. Rob photographs objects he's collected over the years and puts them up for sale on eBay, in the virtual version of the flea markets he's hosted from New York to London's Frieze art fair and Paris. So far, Rob has amassed only positive reviews, including "A+" and even a "«:::P:::» «:::E:::» «:::R:::» «:::F:::» «:::E:::» «:::C:::» «:::T:::»". I stopped by his Red Hook studio to chat to him about the project.
Alexandre Stipanovich: So what is this project exactly?
Rob Pruitt: I call it Rob Pruitt’s eBay Flea Market, and it’s my eBay shop that grew out of these curated flea markets that I used to host. I still host them, I just haven't done one in a while. The first one was at Gavin Brown’s gallery, maybe in 1999. Gavin had asked me to curate a group show for the summer, which I didn’t really know how to do––or at least I thought that I didn’t. So I thought about it for a few days and decided that I would organize a flea market. I'd invite all my friends who were artists, give them each a table, and allow them to do whatever they liked. They could sell their own art, or they could clean out their apartment and sell their own junk.
How would the visitor know what was made by the artist and what wasn't?
That was the great thing about the project for me; usually you walk into a gallery and you don’t get to converse with the artist. But one of the conditions of the flea market was that each artist should sit with their table.
So how did you go from that to an online market?
Well, I did the market again at the Frieze art fair in London, then again at the Tate Contemporary, and again at La Monnaie de Paris. You know, the great thing about having an ongoing project is you get to revisit it and it gives you perspective. In this case, I realized the market was falling into the category of tradition that people liked to participate in and looked forward to––even if it didn’t happen on a regular calendar basis.
It was unpretentious, interactive, and familiar. And you could engage not only with the artist, but also with the artwork and the stuff they love.
Yes, it was very social––about a community. For this market, it's obviously in an age where social media is so important. I look at friends of mine who engage in Twitter and Instagram with admiration. Even their Facebook page is a creative outpost. When they have an idea or a great photo, It's just so natural––they post it and they get immediate feedback, and they develop these communities. I suppose that this eBay market is my foray into that kind of social space that makes sense for me. I have a very deep connection to the objects that I bring home. I buy them because I'm magnetized to them, but then at a certain point I've gotten what I need from them, and then I’m releasing them out into the world.
I have thou
Alexandre Stipanovich: So what is this project exactly?
Rob Pruitt: I call it Rob Pruitt’s eBay Flea Market, and it’s my eBay shop that grew out of these curated flea markets that I used to host. I still host them, I just haven't done one in a while. The first one was at Gavin Brown’s gallery, maybe in 1999. Gavin had asked me to curate a group show for the summer, which I didn’t really know how to do––or at least I thought that I didn’t. So I thought about it for a few days and decided that I would organize a flea market. I'd invite all my friends who were artists, give them each a table, and allow them to do whatever they liked. They could sell their own art, or they could clean out their apartment and sell their own junk.
How would the visitor know what was made by the artist and what wasn't?
That was the great thing about the project for me; usually you walk into a gallery and you don’t get to converse with the artist. But one of the conditions of the flea market was that each artist should sit with their table.
So how did you go from that to an online market?
Well, I did the market again at the Frieze art fair in London, then again at the Tate Contemporary, and again at La Monnaie de Paris. You know, the great thing about having an ongoing project is you get to revisit it and it gives you perspective. In this case, I realized the market was falling into the category of tradition that people liked to participate in and looked forward to––even if it didn’t happen on a regular calendar basis.
It was unpretentious, interactive, and familiar. And you could engage not only with the artist, but also with the artwork and the stuff they love.
Yes, it was very social––about a community. For this market, it's obviously in an age where social media is so important. I look at friends of mine who engage in Twitter and Instagram with admiration. Even their Facebook page is a creative outpost. When they have an idea or a great photo, It's just so natural––they post it and they get immediate feedback, and they develop these communities. I suppose that this eBay market is my foray into that kind of social space that makes sense for me. I have a very deep connection to the objects that I bring home. I buy them because I'm magnetized to them, but then at a certain point I've gotten what I need from them, and then I’m releasing them out into the world.
I have thou