Turning car art upside down

Working with Luton’s Vauxhall Motors, artist Alex Chinneck revealed his latest illusory artwork last week.

‘Pick yourself up and pull yourself together’ sees the artist hang a new Vauxhall Corsa 15 feet in the air while still attached to the road at London’s Southbank Centre.

Vauxhall Motors commissioned Chinneck to create a piece inspired by the new Corsa, whichwas launched earlier this year with a campaign based on an A-Z of British motoring. The gravity defying piece of parking will hang in Hungerford Car Park, beside The London Eye, until Wednesday.

Commenting on the commission, Mark Adams, Head of Design at Vauxhall Motors said: “The installation certainly celebrates the new Corsa as a ball of energy – a small car with a big heart. Alex Chinneck’s work is astounding, he’s an amazing British sculptor who creates illusionary structures with the most in-depth engineering and design. Above all, the gravity defying rip curl embodies the fun people have driving the much-loved Vauxhall Corsa.”

As well as Alex himself, the sculpture has been produced by a team of structural engineers, steel benders, scenic artists, metal workers, carpenters, tarmac layers and road painters, creating an object that was designed to occupy the absolute maximum UK road-legal dimensions so it can be installed overnight.

“Simple in concept yet structurally, technically and logistically complex, this project looks to deliver an experience that can be appreciated by different people for different reasons. While I am most excited by the hidden engineering and complex manipulation of concealed steel, others will simply enjoy the accessible theatricality of the illusion at play,” said Alex Chinneck.

Vauxhall Motors has worked with documentary director Chris Tubbs to create both a behind the-scenes film, offering insights into how the project developed and a time-lapse of the piece’s installation. To view both visit: www.vauxhall.co.uk/alexchinneck.