
Art and automobiles share an uneasy crossroads. Automotive body design is certainly art, but the expression tends to be curtailed by the demands of commerce. Design a car that leans too far towards pure art, and the market will reject it. The symbiosis of needs has served the automotive industry well for the past century. On the fringes are the folks who perpetrate art for art's sake against the automobile. Most of these works are less accessible, though sometimes, there's a consociation that successfully melds higher concept art with the automobile. We're not talking about growing grass on your Riviera here.
British artist Benedict Radcliffe has created a full size rendering of a Toyota Corolla, making the world a more surreal place. The work is essentially a line drawing of the car rendered in three dimensions. Cool. Radcliffe's previous wireframe Impreza was more in line with the pure art mindset, as the Corolla was commissioned for use in a video production. The white painted sculpture lends the photographs a surreal retouched look, and we're kind of bummed we weren't able to turn up the actual commercial, as the couple of shots of the car on set look impressive with the reflective black floor. We can't help but wonder what they chromakeyed behind it, too.
[Source: Skirmisher.org]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mondo @ Aug 30th 2007 1:22PM
You can see its ribs but it has no soul.
RBW @ Aug 30th 2007 1:39PM
They could easily make a wireframe Jetta now. All they need to do is change the grill.
NeoteriX @ Aug 30th 2007 2:52PM
*Rim Shot*
Jeff @ Aug 30th 2007 2:09PM
Couldn't he have used a car that looks more...artistic? Saab Aero-X? Alfa 8C Competizione? Any Aston Martin? Lotus? Anything besides a Corolla. I blame Andy Warhol for all of this.
Phil L. @ Aug 30th 2007 2:14PM
Yup, the Corolla is as bland as canned soup...
scooter @ Aug 30th 2007 2:23PM
Uh, no because it was for a commercial. "Yeah, I know I was supposed to create a Corolla for a Toyota commercial but the Alfa Romeo just looked so much cooler."
Jeff @ Aug 30th 2007 3:36PM
scooter: I know that it was for a commercial. The guy is still an artist. He could do a more artistic car. Autoblog didn't seem to report on the Impreza when he did that, and I would have said the same thing. Obviously, the guy thinks wireframe car models make good art, or he wouldn't have done any of them in the first place. Hopefully the next one he does is more...arty.
Phil L: I've never been a big Warhol fan, and art is completly subjective, so I think my dislike of pictures of soup. Sure, someone might look at this Corolla and think "Art!", and they'd probably look at Warhol's soup cans and think the same thing, but I sure as hell don't. It's all personal taste, though, so it doesn't matter.
Caterham7 @ Aug 30th 2007 4:58PM
Yawn. This was done decades ago as a VW Beetle...
Bryan @ Aug 30th 2007 8:40PM
Wireframe or not, it is still a turd.
Bob-omb @ Aug 31st 2007 1:26AM
Thanks for the scientific review, Bryan!
whofan @ Aug 30th 2007 11:13PM
Now if someone will break out the eraser. It will look even better.
Me!!! @ Aug 31st 2007 10:00AM
lol, I went to the toyota car dealer yesterday and i saw this car... it just arrived, and was unloaded off the truck (well it only came here in south africa).
and why does it say 2003 on the first picture? was this car actually designed in 2003 or what... or is the camera just a bit kaputt...
koushik @ Sep 1st 2007 12:43PM
well that is camry not a corolla!
atleast in the US it isnt