It is curious, is it not, that the bodies of cars are not seen as pieces of sculpture by the art world. Architecture is OK and features regularly in establishments like the Royal Academy but for a car to find a place in a gallery it has to be squashed into a rectangular lump, flatted as if run over by a steam roller or form the framework of an installation.
Architects have empathy with cars, probably because, in addition to their aesthetic quality, they also have to meet functional requirements related to people. But for a wider public, cars are an art form they understand better than any other. You can’t sell an ugly car these days but an indifferent building is fine. And if one wanted to instigate a discussion about the relative merits of Gehry v Hadid in the average pub one will not get very far. But the mention of cars, Focus v Astra or Ferrari v Porsche, is likely to start a lively exchange.
The creation of an elegant vehicle is a huge challenge. Unlike the freedom a sculptor enjoys, the car designer must work within severe restrictions: there is the ’package’, accommodating passengers and mechanical components; there is legislation dictating vision angles, the location of lights, bumper heights; the choice of materials is restricted: some parts must be steel (possibly aluminium or a composite), glass, plastic, rubber; the body is made up of parts, doors, bonnets, boots and other bits and the joint lines between them must be pleasing; the overall form must have good aerodynamics: low drag, low lift, stability in cross wind; because vehicle bodies have a smooth, shiny surface they reflect their surroundings and this needs to be manipulated to flatter the car; all of this has to be capable of being manufactured efficiently in very large numbers at a very low price and please millions of customers.
Why is the massive skill required to put all this together, using techniques similar to a sculptor’s, not properly recognised? In the case of the art establishment it may be a form of snobbery (cars have been around for little more than one hundred years and lacking gravitas). But the biggest culprits are the media dealing with motoring subjects: 0 to 60mph is important to them and they love cars that can exceed 200mph (fast sports cars are almost invariably plastered on the cover of motoring magazines) but any well informed discussion of design and form is almost invariably absent.
Does all that matter? Perhaps not. But it would be fun to put it to the test: supposing the most beautiful cars were selected by a panel made up mostly designers who got their hands dirty creating such work, and these were exhibited in the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern, what kind of crowd would it draw? My guess is huge.
