This photo is not the original sculpture, but it is a 1948 Cadillac Hearse.
There was an automotive show at the Detroit Institute of Art, an exhibition devoted to car related art. A piece by Scott Prescott was too big to include in the show. In reality, the piece called “Ghetto Blaster” was too controversial to include in the show, and the size was an excuse not to include the piece. After some negotiations, I agreed to work with Scott, right after school was over, to provide space and student workers. I believe that there were several donors who helped with the costs and we worked with Scott to build a new piece for the exhibit.
This piece would sit in front of the school during the run of the show.
Scott bought a late 40's Cadillac hearse and a Toyota from a junk yard, and decided to build the "Cadillac Eating A Toyota” and it ended up about 12 feet high,18 feet long, and weighed tons. It also spit fire from its mouth using giant propane tanks.
It was a memorable piece.
It was built in the sculpture department and was pushed around the block, from the back of the school to the front, by volunteers. (It was , after all, on wheels.) I was a pusher with at least another 10 adults, along with some neighborhood kids pushing, sure that it was an amusement park ride.
We had big color picture in the paper, lots of visitors and lots of fun for this special event. For the show opening, we had the full fire breathing apparatus working..
When it was over, we also owned the vehicle. We tried every way we could think of to get rid of it.
It did have one last mission before it was put away. We were asked to be the site for the 1986 Cadillac debut. The Cadillac people asked us to get rid of the sculpture before the debut. We moved it back behind the building, so no one would know it was there. We heard in no uncertain terms that this must be gone, the focus was the 1986 model, not this old sculpture. Lots of money and press go into a car model introduction, and 1986 was not a big year for Cadillac and they needed all the help they could get.
At the end of the event, as they were leaving, some of the press walked through the back parking lot where the Cadillac was stored. A UPI photographer found it, and the “Cadillac that ate a Toyota” was in most of the newspapers in the US the next day.
The last time I saw it, we had it towed to a warehouse, where it probably sits today.
This piece would sit in front of the school during the run of the show.
Scott bought a late 40's Cadillac hearse and a Toyota from a junk yard, and decided to build the "Cadillac Eating A Toyota” and it ended up about 12 feet high,18 feet long, and weighed tons. It also spit fire from its mouth using giant propane tanks.
It was a memorable piece.
It was built in the sculpture department and was pushed around the block, from the back of the school to the front, by volunteers. (It was , after all, on wheels.) I was a pusher with at least another 10 adults, along with some neighborhood kids pushing, sure that it was an amusement park ride.
We had big color picture in the paper, lots of visitors and lots of fun for this special event. For the show opening, we had the full fire breathing apparatus working..
When it was over, we also owned the vehicle. We tried every way we could think of to get rid of it.
It did have one last mission before it was put away. We were asked to be the site for the 1986 Cadillac debut. The Cadillac people asked us to get rid of the sculpture before the debut. We moved it back behind the building, so no one would know it was there. We heard in no uncertain terms that this must be gone, the focus was the 1986 model, not this old sculpture. Lots of money and press go into a car model introduction, and 1986 was not a big year for Cadillac and they needed all the help they could get.
At the end of the event, as they were leaving, some of the press walked through the back parking lot where the Cadillac was stored. A UPI photographer found it, and the “Cadillac that ate a Toyota” was in most of the newspapers in the US the next day.
The last time I saw it, we had it towed to a warehouse, where it probably sits today.
This is it, isn't it? http://detroit.craigslist.org/wyn/cto/2473913236.html
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