In this video response, Tom Guarriello, Ph.D., addresses Briony (Paper Lily) about her blob painting that was listed on eBay. He explains why he was eager to purchase it, citing his enthusiasm for public, experimental art and the unique convergence of creating, sharing, and selling work online. Tom recounts his previous internet‑art acquisitions, notably a numbered canvas (the number 203) from the 1000paintings.com project, where a Swedish artist sold 1,000 canvases each bearing a distinct number via a reverse auction; Tom chose 203 because it matches his Connecticut area code. He mentions being in Louisville for the Breeders’ Cup when the original buyer backed out, making the purchase a “no‑brainer.” Tom promises to film an unpacking ceremony once the painting arrives in Connecticut and thanks Briony for the video. The repeated lyrical lines about “Pictures of Lily” serve as a non‑essential refrain.
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful. Pictures of Lily help me sleep at night.
Hey guys, it's Tom. I just got finished watching Paper Lily's video about the blob painting, my blob painting, and I wanted to make a video response. To explain a little bit about why I really wanted that painting. First of all, thanks. Is it, is it Briony or Briony? You see, if you were an Italian girl, I would know it would be Brioni, and that would be easy. But this one, so forgive me if I mispronounce your name, Briony. You know, you, when you contacted me to let me know that the fellow who had won the eBay auction had decided to back out, Karen and I were in Louisville for the Breeders' Cup races, and, you know, it was a no-brainer. I was so happy that I had got a chance to win the painting that, you know, of course I told you, you know, my bid stands. And you asked, you know, you kind of made a reference to why why you thought I was doing that. And I just wanted to explain that for me, I'm really excited about the kinds of things that we're all doing here, you know, creating stuff in public for one another, just, you know, trying things out and experimenting and creating new ways for people to distribute their work and to share their work with other people. And the idea that you had painted that painting in the video on YouTube and then you were selling it on eBay was just too much of a confluence of factors for me not to buy it. Now, this is not the first internet art that I bought. You may remember, some of you may have seen the videos in which this was in the background. That's a painting. It's a painting of the number 203, and it comes— it was a Painted by an artist who has a website. His website is www.1000paintings.com, and I don't remember the fellow's name, but you don't have to remember his name now. He's on, on the internet. Um, young fella who, um, is from Sweden, I think, and had a great idea. Got 1,000 pieces of canvas like that and on each of them painted one number from 1 to 1,000, and then put them up for auction— reverse auction— on his website. Reverse auction because the earlier paintings were less expensive than the later paintings. As the paintings sold, they became more valuable, and you had to pay more to get them. By the time I got to, to the site, like on the second day that he had offered these paintings, all the single digits were gone. All the triple digits were gone, you know, 111, 222, 333. All the cool digits were gone. Well, not all. 212 was gone. A lot of, you know, 212 is New York City area code. But I saw that 203 was available, which is my area code, my Connecticut area code. So I said, ah, that'd be great, because I want to have, I want to have these icons of this new era, you know. Some of these are, um, For me, they're just great examples of the kinds of new things that we're all doing. So terrific video of packing up my painting. I can hardly wait to receive it here in Connecticut, and when it gets here, I'll do a video of the unpacking ceremony. So thanks very much, Briny. Briny, thanks, and see you guys again soon. Bye.
Pictures of Lily made my life so wonderful. Pictures of Lily help me sleep at night.
