08/08/2003

The second annual Kentucky Art Car Weekend is bringing a lot of creativity out of the garage and into the sunlight. Take Scott Scarboro, for example. He's been getting this artwork together for 17 months. It's a 1970 Volkswagen, but by this weekend it will be a finned creation entitled "Supersonic Space Beetle."

Scott Scarboro, car artist: "It's a wonderful canvas, as far as you can do anything to it -- poke holes in it, drill it, you can weld on it, scratch it up, paint on it -- use foam insulation, chicken wire -- all kinds of lights -- it moves around, it looks different at night than it does in the daytime -- there's all kinds of possibilities."

Cars aren't the only vehicles. Artist Mark Farmer will be riding his Gambling Bike -- festooned with dice, poker chips, playing cards and numbers off a roulette wheel.

Barry Bernson: "Used car dealers are fond of saying 'look at this beauty.' The car artists say we have to find a new way of seeing beauty in a car."

Over at 7th and Breckinridge, in a 19th century blacksmith shop, metal artist Lewis Meyer is putting together his 21st century vision: turning a 1993 Nissan pickup truck into a Dragon-mobile: huge metal teeth will go on the grille; the dragon's body scales are made from recycled soft-drink cans.

Lewis Meyer, car artist: "I'm considering fire-breathing as a definite possibility... Why drive a boring metal truck when you can drive a cool metal truck? It's going to be a multi-level experience."

Call it eccentricity, anarchy or whatever -- it's another kind of tribute to our American obsession with automotivity. The Art Car Weekend? It's safe to say... it's a show that's got to go on the road.