Louisville Magazine

NOV 2017

Louisville Magazine is Louisville's city magazine, covering Louisville people, lifestyles, politics, sports, restaurants, entertainment and homes. Includes a monthly calendar of events.

Issue link: https://loumag.epubxp.com/i/891238

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 30 of 180

28 LOUISVILLE MAGAZINE 11.17 In front of NuLu's Garage Bar in mid- September, a tow truck finally removed two muscle cars smashed in a prolonged metallic snoggle. No warrants were issued for unpaid parking. Their removal was simply a little auto choreography. Though many people had been fooled over the years, if only momentarily, Colliding Cars Photos and story by Joey Harrison Garage Bar gets a new car crash. A BIT CLOSER the cars were not the result of an actual crash. They were a kinetic sculpture, and within a few hours of their removal a flatbed truck delivered a 2002 Mustang and a 1992 Firebird — sourced from Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, respectively — to replace the junkyard-bound '89 Camaro and '81 Firebird, which had been there since 2011. A month of preparation preceded the complicated pas de quatre. A pair of flanges bolted to steel gliders were welded to the bottom of each car, which would allow hydraulically powered pistons to forcefully push the gliders, and the cars, toward each other. The whole thing is a spectacle of strength and destruction, but aesthetics matter. The Camaro and Firebird spent considerable time in makeup. First, a fresh coat of paint. Then some nifty embellishments — tri-color flames for the Firebird and scallops for the Mustang. 21c Museum Hotel's Brandon Harder did the work. He is, by title, an exhibit preparatory. It's a job with wide-ranging duties, apparently. Surgery followed cosmetics, specifically, some under- the-hood work to ensure an aesthetically pleasing crash. From his upstate New York studio/compound, artist Jonathan Schipper mentioned how the force in the piece he calls "Slow Inevitable Death of American Muscle" comes from the rear. (Other versions of the sculpture have been shown in Philadelphia, Brooklyn, China and Belgium, but Louisville's is the only one on continual display.) In an actual crash, Schipper explained, the force would be in the front. So measures were taken to replicate the look of an actual head-on collision. The man in charge of that was THE BIT

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Louisville Magazine - NOV 2017