Art cars are the antithesis of "road rage": They make other drivers smile. We are making the world a happier place!
Art cars mean that connecting with other people is more important than material possessions. Let's face it, art cars have zero resale value -- so just have fun!
We plan appearances in local parades (when we can get enough art cars together in one place to make a show!)
"I envision my fine hand-painted 1986 Tercel in a parade with my 9-year-old boy riding in it and waving proudly to the appreciative crowd. The best part of this vision is that my ex-wife can't possibly deny me a holiday visitation to bring our boy to participate in a parade!"
--Jesse, Cambridge MA, 1999"ACNE? There's a club for those cars? You mean Jesse isn't the only one willing to destroy his car?
--Matt, former owner of an Art Car but currently retired, Lowell MA, 1999"I'm embarrassed to drive the thing to work, because my boss might see it. But the kids like it."
--Michele, sister of an art car owner, Somerville MA, 1998"My 7-year-old daughter is thrilled when teenage girls smile approvingly and wave at her as she drives by. And I appreciate the approving smiles and waves of somewhat older women."
--Alan, Randolph MA, 1999
Spike was 7 years old when we returned from Arkansas and had to leave behind our crumbling Nissan 300 ZX, which we called "The Kessel Car". It was a fine old sports car, which Spike loved because it had a removable roof, but the hot Arkansas summer did it in. My replacement was a 1986 Toyota Tercel which my brother had recently driven cross-country and gotten broadsided by a police car. After a few thousand dollars of repairs, it was entirely driveable, but Spike pined for the old Kessel Car. His usual way to express his pining was, "This car stinks!"
I discussed extensively with Spike what we could do to get his approval -- or at least grudging acceptance -- of our new car. He concluded that designing and painting it himself would probably help. I figured a 10-year-old car with a smashed-in door and countless rattles couldn't look much worse, so I dug out a few old spray-paint cans from the basement, taped up the windows, and let the kids have at it.
Spike, his sister Coco, and their neighborhood friends climbed all over the car to get to the good spots. Coco and her best friend tried to fashion "wieners" on the roof but they were sufficiently abstract that I let them continue. Spike, feeling competition with Coco, drew a dark blue "SPIKE" across the front of the hood. Hence the moniker "The Spikemobile," which Coco will do her best to change the next time we apply paint. We've recently located some glow-in-the-dark stuff, and are planning....
So I knew it was time for a new paint job. Since it was shortly after 9/11, I wanted to express my patriotism, so I painted a full-car base of red, then painted an American flag with blue and white (leaving the red showing through for the stripes), occupying the entire driver's door. Mixing the blue and white together, I then painted a United Nations flag in light blue next to it, occupying the entire passenger door, to emphasize that I believed in good international relations as well as patriotism.
My girlfriend, an English Literature professor, took one look and said, "Well, that's a textbook example of semiotic malaise." Hence I knew what had to be painted on the trunk: "The Semiotic Malaisemobile."
As my 4-year-old son would explain to anybody willing to listen, "semiotic malaise" means "two juxtaposed symbols that are mutually contradictory, or which cause distress in the viewer from their inherent contradiction and simultaneous juxtaposition."
Art Car LinksMore pictures of New England Art Cars | ||
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| Build It and They Will Come | Intro to art cars | |
| ArtCar Fest '99 | The Nation's Largest Gathering of Art Cars | |
| Art Cars in Cyberspace | Events and Database | |
| Tips and Techniques | How to hand-paint your car, temporarily or permanently | |
| The Art Car Museum | in Houston Texas | |
| Carnival Cars | A Prelude to a Parade | |
| The Art Car Web Ring | (lots of Art Car sites) | |
| The Sticker Car | (resides in Maryland) | |
All material copyright 1999 by ACNE Reprinting with permission only (but we always grant permission!) |
ACNE Art Cars of New England E-mail: jesse@jessegordon.com |
Send donations, pictures or stories to: ACNE Headquarters 1770 Massachusetts Ave. #630 Cambridge, MA 02140 |
Written byWebMerchants
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