CIGAR BOX GUITARS / CBGS

BLUES NOTES

The vision of this piece was that a ‘closed mind does not work’. The idea came to me when I was given a cigar box that had several intimidating stickers on it regarding the dangers of smoking by a cigar shop owner.

The box itself was perfect for making musical instrument art, but the tobacco advertising and health warning stickers plastered all over it made the cigar shop owner think it was of no use.

I decided to laminate some of the many banknotes that I had collected from my travels onto the box to signify that something considered no longer of any value actually contained immense value.

A friend of mine in the USA upcycles 1930s art deco items and also makes electric guitar pickups using parts from old 1930s washing machines. He sent me over one of those pickups as well as a couple of old good luck doubloons that had been thrown to the crowd from a float in the 1933 Mardi Gras to help me with my quest.

When I finished this artwork I phoned the cigar shop owner that had gifted me the dilapidated cigar box to see if they wanted to put the finished product in their shop window as an attraction.

I informed the owner that I had made a guitar artwork out of the box. Thinking that the box was still in its original state the shop owner said they weren’t permitted to advertise tobacco in the window.

I told the store owner the box was now art and had no tobacco advertising and the original box was covered with banknotes. The owner then said that it could now  attract thieves.

After that conversation, it struck me that a closed mind is not open to any possibilities, even ideas that may benefit the individual. Only an open mind can change the world for the better.

SCALE LENGTH: GIBSON 24 ¾” 629mm
ELECTRIC, RIGHT HANDED, FRETLESS, THREE STRING CIGAR BOX GUITAR.

Scroll to Top