In Chicago for the Democratic National Convention, artist Autumn Breon’s neon-pink vending machine proffers free self-care

At 7:30 in the morning on Wednesday (21 August), in a parking lot just a couple miles west of the 2024 Democratic National Convention’s (DNC) main venue in Chicago, the Los Angeles-based artist Autumn Breon was restocking her hot pink Care Machine (2023) with tampons and little packages of lubricant. This playfully sophisticated take on a vending machine offers, at various times, birth control information, fentanyl testing strips, books, Narcan, emergency contraception and candy. A pink sticker covering the rectangular card reader and coin slot reads: “Beauty is essential. Care is essential.” The only rule for the freebies is to take only what you need.

For Freedoms, an artist-led organisation focused on civic engagement, sponsored Breon’s work. It was formed in 2016 as that year’s US presidential election was gearing up by a coalition of artists and organisers including Hank Willis Thomas. This election season, For Freedoms partnered with a local arts non-profit, SkyART, that organised a community fair to include work by the Chicago-based collective the Floating Museum and other artists, live music, voter registration and manicures (thanks to Breon’s self-care mission). For Freedoms also placed six artist-designed billboards across the city, with messages that encourage voting and participatory democracy. One billboard, by Carrie Mae Weems, is supported by the Movement Voter Fund, a network that supports voter drives. The others were erected in partnership with the Chicago-based civic engagement agency Gertie.

When Breon started working on Care Machine, she knew what she wanted to put inside because she put out a call asking Black women for input. “Data collection is part of my work,” she says. The multidisciplinary artist is a graduate of Stanford University, where she studied to be an astrophysicist. Leaning on scientific methods is part of her process. “I use everything I learned as an engineer. It has been beneficial to my practice. Engineers think about functionality,” she says, adding: “Aesthetics are just as important.”

The work of the late poet, feminist and activist Audre Lorde has also informed Breon’s work. Lorde famously wrote: “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.” That idea is evident in the Care Machine.

“There are so many aspects of care that have been misinterpreted,” says Breon, who aims to expand its meaning. “Having access to reproductive health care and being able to participate in fair and free elections are as important as beauty and adornment.” She says she was also inspired by the Combahee River Collective, a Black lesbian collective active in the 1970s, whose core belief was that until Black women were free, no one was free.

As for the work’s hot pink exterior, Breon says she wanted a colour that would command attention. There was another reason, she adds: “It has to be unapologetic.” She sees centring care in her work to be a way to combat hate and violence, though she was quick to point out that she does not consider herself a teacher. “I just think of my work as reminders for what we already know,” she says. “There is a lot of harm out there right now.”

One of the items in the machine is a button that reads “abortion pills by mail” along with the website of a provider. “People need to have access to accurate information to make the most informed decisions,” she says. “Some people did not know that abortion pills exist.” In the wake of the US Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the federal right to abortion, many states have enacted near-total abortion bans and abortion pills have become increasingly essential for women making reproductive health decisions.

Before arriving in Chicago, the Care Machine stopped at the Charlotte Street art space in Kansas City. Following the DNC it will go on view in Indianapolis during the Butter Art Fair, which celebrates Black creativity.

For Freedoms also participated in an expansive exhibition in a warehouse situated within walking distance of the DNC convention at the United Center. INTO ACT!ON 2024 (until 22 August) was co-curated by Yosi Sergant with the New York-based TaskForce and Evan Cerasoli, who is based in Los Angeles. The exhibition features 144 artworks including pieces by Shepard Fairey, Carlos Rolón and a wall of textile artist Aram Han Sifuentes’s banners from her Protest Banner Lending Library (2016-24).