On and off the road : creative intersections between cars and art

Abstract

Thesis: Over the past decade there has emerged a growing body of scholarship concerned with the impacts and influences of automobility. Its purpose has been to understand the dominance of the car not simply as a technology of transport but as a system of actors, materials, objects, ideas and infrastructure. While much of this research recognises the pervasive presence of the car in our lives in terms of different representational formats, relatively little consideration has been given to what creative artists might contribute to this research. Adopting an interdisciplinary framework incorporating contemporary art, visual anthropology and the archaeology of the contemporary past, this study explores the intersection of car cultures and creative practice to consider how cars can operate as a form of art. In doing so the author proposes that artistic engagements with the car provide unique insight into the experiences of contemporary life. This argument follows from the understanding that art is not simply a mirror of or response to the socio-cultural and political context in which it is manifest. Art is also a conceptual tool for thinking about the very substance and conditions of contemporary existence. Incorporating research undertaken across numerous car culture sites and communities along with a detailed analysis of six case studies, the project makes extensive use of photography as a mode of research. Within the accompanying exegesis the author discusses how her own artwork engages with the influence of automobility in our daily lives. She identifies her working practice as one that is strongly inspired by objects, images and materials that already exist in the world. This enduring interest in the way people make their worlds is informed by her training and sensibility as an archaeologist. The artist explores this idea as a general influence on her practice and more specifically through her investigation of car cultures. The signature of the automobile is all around us, but through its very ubiquity it often goes unnoticed. It is this affect of the everyday - the power to hide in the light - that has especially influenced the artist's approach to the subject. How might this presence in our lives be envisaged without representing the car itself? By abstracting the auto from automobility the artist aims to reflect on the contradictory ideas and emotions that underlie our relationships to the motor vehicle. The story of the car is also allegorical. From the point of purchase to the aftermath of its obsolescence, the automobile is a site for the projection of our desires. The artist's photographs and video work are an expression of this sweet melancholy; the beauty of hope and the spectre of unfulfilled promise. In discussing how she came to develop her practice in response to this topic, the artist concludes that many different modes of being and making - from driving, to talking, to photography - may constitute art as practice-based research.

Exegesis: This exegesis discusses how I came to develop a body of work that engages with the influence of automobility in our daily lives. I identify my working practice as one that is strongly inspired by objects, images and materials that already exist in the world. This enduring interest in the way people make their worlds in informed by my training and sensibility as an archaeologist. I explore this idea as a general influence on my art practice and more specifically through my very ubiquity it often goes unnoticed. It is this effect of the everyday - the power to hide in the light - that has especially influenced my approach to the subject. How might this presence in our lives be envisaged without representing the car itself? By abstracting the auto from automobility I aim to reflect upon the contradictory ideas and emotions that underlie our relationships to the motor vehicle. The story of the car is also allegorical. From the point of purchase to the aftermath of its obsolescence, the automobile is a site for the projection of our desires. My photographs and video work are an expression of this sweet melancholy; the beauty of hope and the spectre of unfulfilled promise. In discussing how I came to develop my practice in response to this topic, I conclude that many different modes of being and making - from driving, to talking, to photography - may constitute art as practice-based research. Show more