Artsology

Smart Car, Art Car

Wouldn't it be fun if someone handed you a bunch of permanent markers, a white car, and then told you to "go crazy with it" and draw anything you want? Well, something like that actually did happen ... the German automotive company Daimler AG provided a Smart Car to New York East Village artist "Billy The Artist" and let him style it with his own "urban primitive pop" design all over the car. Scroll down for more ...

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You can see Billy the Artist start drawing with Sharpie markers, below left, and the finished-first-stage of the project, below right. But that wasn't the end of it ...

Smart Car covered in art by Billy the Artist at the 2011 Art Basel Art Fair

The first version, the black-and-white-only car (pictured above), was being exhibited at the SCOPE event at the 2011 Art Basel Miami Art Fair, and guests were invited to use color markers to expand upon and fill in Billy's black-and-white design. Over the course of a week, there were hundreds of people who added their own designs, as you can see below:

People allowed to draw on a Smart Car at Art Miami SCOPE

Here's a look at the finished result which I saw at the 2012 Detroit Auto Show:

Daimler AG Smart Car designed by Billy the Artist at the Detroit Auto Show

Overall, in concept and general appearance, I thought the car was a lot of fun and a very cool idea. The only downside to it was the fact that since permanent markers were used, it wasn't as crisp or as smooth as what it might have been if it was a custom paint job. Nevertheless, it does feed the fantasy of being able to customize your own car with your own drawings! Imagine how fun it would be if everyone did this?