Eccentrics and wild cars take to the road in “Automorphosis”

Filmmaker Harrod Blank grew up in the isolated Santa Cruz mountains of California, without a TV and with only roosters and chickens for friends. At 16, driven by a desire to communicate who he is with others, he began decorating cars, beginning with his bland, white Volkswagen.

The resulting car,”Oh My God,” introduced him to a community of other kindred-spirit eccentric art car creators, led him to write the book Art Cars, establish the Art Car World museum, and eventually into filmmaking with “Wild Cars” and “Automorphosis.”

From the “Carthedral” to Uri Geller’s fork-and-spoon-covered “Peace Car,” Automorphosis draws us into the tuck-and-roll interior lives of some very creative and independent non-conformists.

“There’s a lack of smiles. I’m filling a need. I had no idea,” says the creator of the “Shark Car.” One artist, a cancer survivor covered her vehicle with chains – a metaphor for her illness – and found healing in the process. “The very thing that says you’re going to die ends up being the thing that sustains you.”

“Ever since we’ve been born, we’ve been conditioned with the imagery and the messages that we should live a certain way,” says Blank. Automorphosis is an inspiration to throw off the restrictions of convention and live more authentic, independent and expressive lives.

“Automorphosis” is Blank’s second art car film, a follow-up to “Wild Wheels.”

Art Cars: the cars, the artists, the obsession, the craft book by Harrod Blank

Related:
Eccentricity
Being eccentric and creative and productive – non-conformity and your creative potential
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art cars, eccentric people, being a nonconformist, Automorphosis

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Cat Robson is an award winning Santa Barbara writer. Her novel in progress is set during the Hollywood blacklist of 1948. See her Facebook page.

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