ArtCar Fest 09 was recently featured on National Geographic Television on a show called National Geographic Amazing. This episode had a bunch of shots of cars such as, Space Junk, Carthedral, and Ah My Gawd by Harrod Blank. There were also a three art cars that were interviewed: Daisy Singer by Philo Northrup, The Mercedes Pens by Costas Schuler, and Vain Van by Emily Duffy.
Pro Hart (1928-2006) is on of Australia's most famous artist and considered the father of the Australian Outback painting movement. His works were shown on a wide variety of products such as air conditioners, beer cans, kitchenware, and telephone cards, and also a very popular carpet commercial on television.
He lived in Broken Hill, in Outback Australia, and owned a number of Rolls Royce and Bentley cars witch he drove all over the outback, and described them as "bloody good cars for the job". He is also famous for his painted 1973 Silver Shadow Rolls Royce art car in 1999.
When men and scrap bikes collide you get cyclecide , a group of other worldly creative genius who have taken it upon themselves to transform scrap bikes into death defying rides of pure fun.
Their mission statement best describes who and what they do.
"Heavy Pedal Cyclecide Bike Rodeo is a club of alter-bike mechanics, mariachi-punk musicians and psychotic clowns who love bikes, beer and building stuff. Together we form a traveling pedal-powered carnival that is fun for people of all ages."
Bellow is a great collection of art bikes they have created so far and the video puts it all together. These bikes are best understood live but the video is the next best thing.
Suburban Intruder aka Mower Bike
Bone Bike
Double Trouble
Moses on the 999 Chopper
Slouch Broom Bike
Mars Bike from BVSA
Rocket Bike from BVSA Golden Gate Bridge Bike Chupacabra with Flames
Draco Steelworks 4x4 is an expedition style, all wheel drive luxury motor home that has given Ms. Johnson a new lease on life after she came down with crippling Lyme disease. full story. It has a 190 gallon diesel fuel tank, broadband Internet satellite, a 20,000 pound hydraulic winch mounted on the front, does 0 to 49 in 35 seconds and goes off road. Inside it has insulated aluminum window shutters on all windows, a three-burner propane stove with oven, a ceramic tiled bathroom with accented hardware, security system and mobile GPS with voice prompting. It also has bear foot prints painted on the side to make it look less scary. Check out the video its a great story.
Artist Robin Rhode installed a set of paint squirters on a 2010 BMW Z4 and then set it in motion upon canvas. This giant football field sized piece of art is entitled "An Expression of Joy." and was created after hours of driving the car to and fro in exact patterns to get the paint thickness just so. I think its a great marketing idea by BMW to promote their new car, well done.
This beautiful Jungle Bug Art Car is brought to you by Amanda Jensen a 1987 Ford Ranger with a shell. She said this about her art car:
I started decorating it in 1996. I used "fake plant" leaves, plastic jewels, One-Shot paint, and for the first years, many large & giant toy bugs. Now, there are only some giant ants painted blue on top. It was my ONLY vehicle, a "daily driver" art-car, until November 2007. I did it all myself and never had a garage or driveway so it was street-parking only. Many people loved it very much, but it never got very famous or publicized. It doesn't run well anymore. Alas!! I love it! I deeply miss being able to drive it everywhere.
Amanda thank you for submitting your Jungle Bug Art Truck it is truly a very beautiful art car and I do hope my readers will post lots of comments.
This minimalist BMW named the "Dotmobile" art was sent in by Little Shiva. Her web site has a wide range of some pretty amazing works of art mainly using trash and other found objects, check it out. Anyways this is what she had to say about her self.
When she's not fingerpainting on Mars or curating Visible Trash, Little Shiva is probably dreaming of The Dotmobile, plotting and scheming on how to get her shipped to Europe as part of traveling trash art expo in 2010. Stranded in Charlotte NC without a car back in the early 00's, Little Shiva put out a call and a kind soul answered. Dave Neff had driven his prized Beemer into a ditch and crunched her up a bit. Too embarrassed to sell her given the twisted shape she was in, he was about to give her to the scrapyard when fate intervened – Little Shiva got her for a dollar. A year or so later after returning from her first trip to Burning Man, Little Shiva decided to start the transformation . . . and Dot was born. Moving to Belgium in 2007 meant leaving Dot behind: she's currently the art car-in-residence at the Juggling Gypsy in Wilmington, NC.
This 1922 Dodge camper conversion art car was created by June and Farrar Burn and an autobiography was about in June Burn's book "Living High". more...
quote from Living High.
"June and Farrar lived full and interesting lives free of materialistic indignities. June wrote, 'The secret of living on so small an income is to not want anything.' Farrar said he was happiest when he was broke and out of work. It gave him complete financial security. They put much trust in life and didn't waste a minute of it." - Skye Burn, Waldron Island, 1992.
This spectacular photo of the Ballad Bungalow and the Burn family was taken sometime in early 1929 on G Street in Washington, D.C. Farrar'shandywork is seen here with the mini-cabin and smokestack atop their Dodge Brothers automobile.
