Artists Buy Entire Store Inventory For Project
By: Anthony Adragna
Published: June 10, 2011

A group of five artists walk into the Fancy Grocery convenience store in New York City and tell the owner, a nice man named Hercules, that they want to buy everything in the building. By the end of the seven-hour process, Hercules has gone through 2 rolls of receipt tape and the store lies empty. In this case, that might be a good thing. The store will likely go out of business, but the artists bought everything at normal prices so Hercules would not lose money on the deal. 
They call their efforts the "Store Buyout Project."  Now, the artists have taken those grocery products and transformed them "into a collection of conceptual art that questions our perceptions of value and celebrates the Art of Convenience." So, they'll sell you one of the ACTUAL cans of Coke they bought for $150 (it is inverted). Too much? How about a box of Orbit gum for $75? 
All in the name of art. Actually, a portion of the sales will go to saving Hercules' store.