SEAT Arona Turned Into a Sculpture

19 Posted: 19th Nov 2018
SEAT Arona Turned Into a Sculpture
  • Artpiece by street artist Vhils

    • Portuguese artist Alexandre Farto draws inspiration from the design of SEAT’s most urban SUV to create a unique piece
    • 15 tonnes of cement, steel, silicone and fibreglass was used on this artwork
    • On display in the Urban Contemporary Art Museum in Cascais, the sculpture aims to immortalise the lines of the car

     “I wanted to somehow immortalise the design of a car”, admits Alexandre Farto, better known as Vhils. The Portuguese street artist has created one of his latest works, ‘Tangible’, a sculpture made with 15 tonnes of cement that reinterprets the design of the SEAT Arona. Here he explains how he carried out the design and production process of this unique piece, which took a year to complete:

    - Three months to design the initial mould in 3D: In the same way as car designers, this internationally recognised artist begins his projects with pencil and paper, and later confirms their feasibility using virtual technology.  “I had never worked with a car before and had wanted to do just that for quite some time, so this collaboration has been a fantastic opportunity for me, a seamless connection”, he assures.

    - The challenge of working with cement: According to Vhils, the challenge was to sculpt a large-scale piece with material that is complicated to shape. “I like to use rustic materials”, he adds. He used a total of 15 tonnes of cement, fibreglass and silicone. An initial steel structure was necessary to build the mould. The wheels were made separately and each weighs 100 kg.

    - A car with a 3D effect: The front part of the sculpture imitates the lines of the Arona, while at the rear “you can see several horizontal buildings that shape an eye to emphasise the importance of looking. From a distance, it looks as if the car is creating a wake as it moves away”, he explains.

    - A fossil a hundred years from now: This is how Vhils would like this unique version of the Arona to be rediscovered within a century. “I’m tremendously proud of this piece; not only for its technical complexity, but because it has been created to withstand the passing of time”, he says. According to this artist, ‘Tangible’ will be a witness to today’s society. “Not only did I want to immortalise the lines of a car, but ‘fossilise’ the relationship between cities and their inhabitants”, concludes Vhils, who does not hesitate to place the car as a crucial linking element of society.

  • Notes to the Editors

    SEAT is the only company that designs, develops, manufactures and markets cars in Spain. A member of the Volkswagen Group, the multinational has its headquarters in Martorell (Barcelona), exporting 80% of its vehicles, and is present in over 80 countries on all five continents. In 2017, SEAT obtained an after tax profit of 281 million euros, sold close to 470,000 cars and achieved a record turnover of more than 9.5 billion euros.

    The SEAT Group employs more than 15,000 professionals and has three production centres – Barcelona, El Prat de Llobregat and Martorell, where it manufactures the highly successful Ibiza, Arona and Leon. Additionally, the company produces the Ateca and the Toledo in the Czech Republic, the Tarraco in Germany, the Alhambra in Portugal and the Mii in Slovakia.

    The multinational has a Technical Centre, which operates as a knowledge hub that brings together 1,000 engineers who are focussed on developing innovation for Spain’s largest industrial investor in R&D. SEAT already features the latest connectivity technology in its vehicle range and is currently engaged in the company’s global digitalisation process to promote the mobility of the future.

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