Art Cars: The Mutant Vehicles at Burning Man, 2019

I have been interested in art cars since watching the documentary "Wild Wheels." I included a brief discussion of them in the introduction of my The Automobile and American Life. Then last year I wrote an article on VW Beetles and art cars for "The Conversation." It would be picked up by a number of media outlets, including Newsweek Japan. But until now the presence of art cars at the Burning man events totally escaped me. How did that happen?  

While my omission might have been due to my laxity its in keeping up with contemporary culture, it might also be the consequence of the extreme breadth of the topic of car culture.  These Mutant Vehicles have to be approved by a committee before inclusion into the Burning Man event.  Too bad no Burning Man in 2020! Each on of the following images -- and this topic has been widely covered by the media -- deserves some sort of commentary. I will try to do this the next few days, so you might want to check back.

So what does this vehicle tell us? It is a 1959 Chevrolet mounted on top of a tracked construction vehicle. The couple is not sitting together. While the man is manipulating the construction vehicle, the woman is sitting in the bak holding an umbrella. It suggests quite defined gender rilles:  man as the controller, the woman as a passive, fashion-oriented individual. In 1959, we are at the threshold of the Interstate Highway System. Families are going in vacation, enjoying increased leisure, and yet at the same time are distancing from one another. Men and women and living in two distinct worlds, while physically being

 together.

S

Passive and aggressive.

Some sort of God, perhaps? Not a friendly object. A crab claw. A fish with teeth? This bizarre biomimicry also conveys a sense of confusion, lack of integration and purpose. What do you think?

More biomimicry! Why all the sharks? Is the statement they are making one of danger and destruction? The car has plenty of teeth. So what! An exercise in bullshit.