The Disappearing Gumballs
Koos Buster
Suddenly, they’re gone. Unnoticed, they’ve vanished from the streets: the gumball machines.
Anyone over thirty will remember them. The machines hanging on forgotten walls; outside a Chinese takeout, or under the awning of the local football club. The shiny turning knob, the pictures of Jawbreakers or other obscure brands, yellowed by the sun behind the plastic window. The thrill you felt the moment you pushed a coin into the slot above the knob. After turning, the clunk, and then: the ball rolling down, hitting the metal flap. What color? Which color? It didn’t really matter, and yet you were curious.
They haven’t completely disappeared, but the gumball machine is now mostly a piece of nostalgia, an object from another time. Koos Buster made one out of ceramic. Not a yellowed 1980s machine, but the classic red one from America. In his work, Koos celebrates everyday life. He does this by putting the objects that surround us — and that we often overlook — on a stage. By making them from different materials (ceramic and glass) and subtly adjusting their form by hand, small slots, angles, and bumps appear. Dull objects, like an electrical socket, suddenly become appealing. The white ceramic gleams, the plug holes are crooked. “I want perfect silliness. If it comes out too straight and neat, I push in a few dents — I love wobbly lines and surfaces. Some people think it looks like a six-year-old made it… well. For me, it works if it has the feel of a quick, spontaneous sketch.” [1]
Silly objects
The objects Koos makes are not only funny. By choosing an object and highlighting it, we start thinking about it. Do we ever pause to notice all the things we usually pass by so casually? The sheer amount we own, produce, and encounter every day.
In his work, we see many “silly” objects — overlooked, everyday things that exist only for our use: bottles of cleaning liquid, energy drinks, crushed cigarettes, or trash cans. Items not designed to be beautiful, but that still shape our world.
Sometimes we forget that. Take the summer of 2012. The prime ministerial race between Emile Roemer of the SP and Mark Rutte of the VVD. We all know who won, but at the time, we didn’t. Roemer and Rutte were the stars of the RTL debate. Rutte seemed to win with his nonchalant attitude, but the real moment came during the commercials. A quick break outside with a soda. Rutte chose cola, Roemer Fanta. They got straws to prevent stains. Photographers loved the scene: two rivals with a cola and a Fanta. When Rutte realized he was being photographed, he threw his straw away. He must have been glad with the final photos: a prime minister doesn’t drink Fanta with a straw.
The objects around us influence us, make us move, and by zooming in on them, entire worlds are revealed.
A new world
In Villa, Koos’s gumball machine stands. Henry Rijkers (76) from Katwijk would probably have appreciated it. In the 1980s, he operated thousands of machines across the Netherlands. Now they’ve almost disappeared — a sign of a changing world. They were often placed by small independent shopkeepers, most of whom are gone. Candy has also become so cheap that profit is only possible at scale. Twenty cents for one gumball? Now you can buy a whole strip for that.
Designer Anouk Corstiaensen still has a working machine at her home. For twenty cents, you get a gumball or a small prize. In 2023, she told Trouw about a girl who wanted to trade her little ring. “I said: I don’t have the key. Even if I did, I wouldn’t do it. The surprise is the fun part of turning the knob.” [2]
According to historian Peter van Dam, this anecdote reflects a broader trend: in a time when everything has become functional and predictable, people miss the small, romantic thrill of buying something without knowing what you’ll get. The gumball machine symbolizes that shift — like the girl who wanted to trade her ring. Not being able to choose doesn’t fit today’s world, where the consumer is constantly in control.
Making everything more fun
That Koos recreates a gumball machine is no coincidence. He often chooses everyday objects that are slowly disappearing from streets, like an ATM or a Canta. “I want to give simple things from a non-elite world appreciation, as a voice against inequality in society. But I’m not trying to make a point or convey a message. I want to pass on energy, inspiration, and emotion, and make everything more fun.” [3]
In Villa, Koos also hung a small box on the wall, normally used to trigger a fire alarm. In the exhibition, it hangs as a kind of parody of actual fire safety systems. Previously, he had made a series of fire extinguishers and hoses. On Radio 1 he explained: “A fire extinguisher deserves more attention. You walk past it all the time, but never notice it. I like making art from objects found in every museum, even if they’re not there as art objects. Now it suddenly becomes art because it’s made from a different material. I’m basically telling the object that it’s allowed to exist. That’s why I put it in the spotlight.” [4]
[1] https://www.vtwonen.nl/eigen-huis-en-interieur/interview-met-koos-buster~7dc4b29
[3] https://www.vtwonen.nl/eigen-huis-en-interieur/interview-met-koos-buster~7dc4b29