Wild Wheels - Softcover

Blank, Harrod

Softcover

ISBN 10: 093362168X ISBN 13: 9780933621688

Publisher: Blank Books, 2001

Synopsis

Art Cars represent a vital and ever-growing folk art form. Forty-two of these magnificent sculptures-on-wheels are featured in 127 photographs, complete with an essay about each artist. Ever wonder what could possess a driver to transform his or her car into an alligator, cover it with faucets, meticulously apply stained glass to every inch, or completely coat it with buttons? Satisfy your curiosity, and maybe even discover an inspiration to spice up your own driving experience in this lively book by Art Car documentarian Harrod Blank.

As a teenager, Blank didn’t want to be mistaken for a person as bland as his 1965 VW bug, so he started painting on it, attaching things to it, and attracting a heap of attention in a town where he became known for the car with the unforgettable name, “Oh My God!” Over time, people passing through town let him know that there were others like him around the country who had discovered the same irresistible canvas for self-expression. As a young filmmaker, Blank knew he had to go out there and document these kindred spirits.

Before long, he embarked upon a journey around the country to interview and photograph Art Car artists in the making of his feature documentary (also available from Amazon.com) and companion book, both entitled “Wild Wheels.” He found them in the most unexpected corners of the U.S., these folk artists who had no concern for traditional art venues, who wanted their art, their message, their self-expressive shrines out there on the streets.

In “Wild Wheels” we get a vivid glimpse of a range of these artists whose motivations, methods, and works of art are surprisingly varied, who may have only one thing in common: they’re all in this book!

About this title

From the Inside Flap

In the late 1980s filmmaker Harrod Blank crisscrossed the country in his elaborately adorned car, “Oh My God!,” looking for other “art cars” to costar in his film “Wild Wheels.” And find them he did, eventually filming over forty cars and interviews with the artists who created them. Decorated in a wide variety of styles and on themes ranging from religion to barnyard animals to general zaniness, these art cars are attention-getting testaments to their owners’ artistic self-expression. This book features forty-two of these amazing apparitions. Among the mobile masterpieces pictured are the “Lightmobile,” a Volkswagen Beetle strung with 1,400 computer-programmed lights that can be made to flash messages; the “Grass Car,” which is planted from top to bottom and side to side with living, growing grass; “Cowasaki,” a motorcycle that has been transformed to look like a cow; the “Toy Car Limo,” driven by Darrell “The Clown” for the sole purpose of making children smile; the “Mad Cad,” a 1960 Cadillac Sedan de Ville festooned with thousands of beads and rhinestones and sporting a flock of jewel-encrusted birds; and the ever-popular “Hippomobile,” a mustang convertible covered with a brass-plated hippopotamus. A fascinating and lively book, “Wild Wheels” includes over 100 color photographs and a brief essay about each artist and his or her creation.

About the Author

When Harrod Blank first realized that his '65 VW Beetle could be treated as a canvas, the result was "Oh My God!" Painted like a beach ball with a bumper of plastic fruit, a chalkboard on back and a TV on the roof, the car was the catalyst for his remarkable career.

Initially, Blank thought he was the only one in the world with an art car, and at times felt quite alienated. This would change, as gradually he learned from supporters that there were other such cars, spread out across the country. Drawing from what he had learned from his father, famous filmmaker Les Blank, and the BA in Theater Arts/Film he earned at UC Santa Cruz in 1986, Blank began photographing other art cars. Subsequently, he raised money through private investors and took out loans as needed to finance the documentary film he dreamed of making: “Wild Wheels.”

To his credit, over 55 million people have now seen the film worldwide. As a start, Blank distributed “Wild Wheels,” featuring 46 art cars and their respective artists by driving "Oh My God!" with the film to 50 different cities across the country. Publicity from the tour gained the interest of PBS, which broadcast the film as a National Special in March 1993. The same year, Blank's photography was featured in a companion book, “Wild Wheels” (Pomegranate Artbooks) which was named "Best Book For Young Adults" by the American Library Association. “Wild Wheels” has been reprinted by Blank Books, with a brilliant new front and back cover design and 17 new pictures, now available in paperback.

Combining his passion for car art and his love for photography, Blank attached 1,705 cameras to a 1972 Dodge van. With ten working cameras included in this rolling spectacle, his second art car, the "Camera Van" has given Blank the ability to photograph the public's candid reactions to car art. In 1995 Blank drove the van to New York City for its official "debut" and took over 5,000 pictures along the way. He is now working on a book of these reaction shots, to be entitled “I've Got A Vision.”

Blank, convinced as ever of the beauty and power of art cars, created “Driving The Dream,” a 30-minute documentary which premiered on TBS's National Geographic Explorer, October, 1997. In response to the seemingly infinite number of astounding art cars yet to be unveiled, Blank is expanding “Driving the Dream” into a feature length sequel to “Wild Wheels.” Art car fans should be on the lookout for “Wild Wheels 2” in late 2002. The Petersen Automotive Museum will host a major exhibition of art cars in 2002-3, of which Harrod Blank will be Guest Curator.

Edition details

• Publisher: Blank Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 093362168X
• ISBN 13: 9780933621688
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 95