Auto on Ice: The Frozen Car Project
Image via The Frozen Car Project
Spring thaw may be around the corner but there’s still time for seasonal art that combines ice and the automobile. And it helps if the frigid public art work, entitled The Frozen Car Project, is located on the western side of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Artists Mary Carothers and Sue Wrbican have created an interesting piece of automotive art on the grounds of Michigan Tech University. In an effort to encourage discussion of “society’s dependence on mobility” the artists have frozen a 1978 Chevy Nova into a solid block of ice. Why a 1978 Chevy Nova? The Nova was selected for its significance relative to the oil crunch of the 1970’s.
According to the artists:
The automobile has long been a metaphor for freedom and power in American culture. The Frozen Car Project represents consumption, politics and desire- a time capsule dredging up The American Dream of ownership and the totemic object that grants “special powers.” The act of freezing references “cryonics,” a procedure which hypothetically preserves a diseased body until a cure is found. The Frozen Car points to the classic struggle of culture verses nature. It is a monument to a tragedy meant to remind us of our present choices.
Those of us who were around in the 1970’s will remember the Chevy Nova, long lines at the gas station, and alternate day fueling schedules. You may also remember scrambling around under the driver’s seat, looking for lost change, and finding enough to buy a gallon or two of gas for that Friday night date.
As The Frozen Car thaws with the spring, the artists will document its demise and interact with the public.
For more car art courtesy of Winding Road™ go to: http://news.windingroad.com/category/art/
I especially like driving into the afterlife in the coffin car:
Related Madsilence post: More car art
~TAB
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Hey, well said and quoted in your comment to my latest blog entry. AND yes…thanks madsilence, I guess that is the ultimate creative act - re: bringing forward new life! Love the Renoir quote! Brilliant! Not only can art fast become boring when artists assume the dictates of fashion but it also becomes (what I can only describe in eloquent terms as…
bullshit! Truly, when you pander to a trend you have no integrity left.
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MadSilence responds:
It is my belief that Renoir spoke of the artist’s responsibility to embody substance, beauty, meaning, and inspiration. There’s enough mediocre art out there already.
Are you familiar with the American sculptor Frederick Hart (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Hart_(sculptor))?
“If Art is to flourish in the 21st century, it must renew its moral authority by rededicating itself to life. It must be an enriching, ennobling, and vital partner in the public pursuit of civilization.” Fredrick Hart
I rank Hart with Saint-Gaudens and French as the greatest of American sculptors.
MadSilence
PS. re your article The Frozen Car Project - the petrol driven automobile may long have been a symbol of freedom in the US as it is here in New Zealand but its time on earth is limited - by necessity eventually! It is also the symbol, unfortunately now, of everything that is going wrong in the world, east and west. A symbol of greed, power and war. Freeze it and let it melt I say - forget the hope of a cure.
This article was enlightening, and, dare I say it, cool. Sorry.
cheers