Article Number: 2720
Soft Cover, Dutch, Thread Stitching, 134 Pages, 2010, post editions
Olaf Mooij

1189.81.237

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The Rotterdam artist Olaf Mooij produces work that focuses on changing existing objects into new dimensions. He achieves particular fame with his car sculptures.

Almost everyone is familiar with his Braincar, a car whose top has been transformed into a brainpan. During the day, the car drives through a neighbourhood, city or street, and in the evening it dreams of it's day through video projections on the matt white brain surface.
Since the early nineties, Mooij has looked to the street as a stage for his work. In 1999, Mooij transformed a car into an art object for the first time. In the DJ Mobile, he magically transformed a Ford Sierra into a mobile station where a DJ spins his records. This piece has appeared at numerous art festivals. Expanding from this concept, Mooij has developed 'hair-cars' series:
'Every type of car has its own personality, its own face, lots of people see the lamps as the eyes, the grille as the mouth. A car represents a certain time spirit and represents a certain group of people. A car is alive! After a long drive with his car my father always said 'well done boy' and gave it a friendly punch. This is where the idea of the hair cars found its roots. Imagine there is a car driving in the street with beautiful long blond hair waiving in the wind.'
Mooij's work is firmly rooted in the sculptural tradition. At the basis of sculpture lies the artists ability to suggest life in dead matter. Rodins famous Kiss is actually just a piece of rock, but we cannot see (or feel) anything other than a passionate embrace. Olaf Mooijs cars are nothing more than bodywork, but he has transformed them into personalities, into living matter.

Language:dutch/english