Art on wheels

In the 70s, I drove around an old Enfield ‘Ensign’ motorcycle. I thought of modifying it to make it look flashy and appealing, especially to the girls in my art school. “It is a good bike why don’t you just drive it as it is.” The workshop owner didn’t seem to be very enthusiastic about the idea of modifying it. 

In those rash driving days it did not take me long to crash this bike, thereby unintentionally giving it a more artistic look as contemporary art goes! But hitting a stone wall at break neck speed is not the best way to modify any vehicle. Though I survived without a scratch, the crash ended the motorbike’s driving days. Yet the idea of modifying automobiles persisted in my mind. Probably it is this desire which culminated in converting my first car into a work of art.

Many artists have recreated automobiles as works of art. Specially cars and bikes. One of the most notable achievement in this direction was Andy Warhol’s art cars. He painted a series of BMW cars and turned them into highly acclaimed works of art. They were very much in line with the pop art philosophy he believed in. Hussain painted horses on his car and drove around Bombay in the 70s.
I went to school in a classic automobile. An Austin in gleaming green. In Bangalore, it was motorbikes for me. Norton, Jawa, Enfield, Lambreta and even a Vikcy moped. My first car came in the late 80s, towards the end of my career as a technician in Hindustan Aeronautics. It is a story of me falling in love with this 1956 Fiat Millicento which came into my life by sheer chance.

It was a winter evening in the mid-80s. A mist hung around Bangalore city but the visibility was fine. I drove with Harish Padbhanaba towards the city. Harish is a friend and one of the earliest collectors of my works. He had just picked up two paintings and a small sculpture from me; and we were out to celebrate the occasion. We talked art and drove towards Windsor Manor, one of my favourite watering holes in those days.  
“I have an old car being done up here, I want to have a look at it,” Harish said when we were passing in front of a garage on Queens Road. I thought I would take a look at the old car as well. The  Millicento turned out to be a beauty indeed and I fell for it. Completely done up in champagne grey it looked in mint condition.   
“Harish, do you want to sell this,” I asked him. “Well, if you like it,” he replied. That was it. We settled the deal in exchange of my three works he had just bought. I drove the car back home that night. My first car in Bangalore. 

As a child I loved cars and one of my hobby was making toy cars out of cardboard boxes using bottle caps for the wheels. I also used the white back walls of our house to draw large cars using burnt wood and got properly reprimanded by my uncle.
But this car was a real one and I got attached to it. It served me faithfully for over 20 years. My son, Shibu, learnt driving in this car. My wife drove it to her office. I carried my canvases and sculptures, often sketched sitting in it. Later, my Willis jeep came and other new cars followed. My Millicento began to take a back seat. It was being neglected. Everybody at home preferred to zoom in their new Marutis and Hyundayis rather than drive an old car — now slightly sluggish. It began showing its age and had to spend a lot of time in the garage. Soon talk of disposing it off began doing the rounds at home.
It was at this time that I decided to give it — in a writer’s word — a new avatar. Why not transform it into a work of art.  In 2004, I put this idea to my friend and associate Joseph Antony. Joseph collaborates with my large projects of sculptures and murals — providing technical support. A sculptor himself and with interest in architecture and engineering, he was able to realise many huge projects of mine with exceptionally good results.
Joseph was very enthusiastic about the project. We began to conceive different ideas to make a sculpture out of the car.   From the outset it was decided not to change the classic shape of the car and it was with that in mind that we proceeded with the designs.
Almost a year was spent in experimenting and toying with several plans. Adaptation of materials was a key factor to be decided. We finalised on copper as the basic material. A classic metal to suit a classic automobile. The ideating and experimenting continued in copper from then onwards. It was only in the beginning of 2005, we actually entered the car into Joseph’s workshop and began stripping it part by part. By this time I came out with a couple of idea scribbles and made models based on these sketches with cardboards and thermocol sheets. I decided not to do any extensive drawings and worked mostly with intuitions and spontaneity.
 
By the middle of 2005, we were ready to assemble a team of highly skilled workers and craftsmen to create each segment and to solve some technical problems. Hundreds of detailed pieces were fabricated by hand. Many had to be rejected when found not fitting well with the general idea and aesthetics. Sometimes whole sections — almost completed — were stripped off and re-done. We relentlessly discussed and argued about the progress and changes everyday towards the dying hours of the night and took some decisions. But many times in the morning we discarded it completely in favour of an idea generated spontaneously.

Meanwhile, we got Fazal, who is an expert on automobiles — specially racing cars, to look at the mechanical side of the car. Though the engine and gear box is dispensed off later as it is meant to be a stationary exhibit — Fazal had ensured the smooth moving of the car while towing or shifting from place to place. The final touches were added and the work was completed by the end of June 2009.
The reincarnation of an automobile as an art installation-sculpture was thus complete. It is now on show in New Delhi.