Material
A Haute Couture Car
Automobile
Studio Job were invited to create a special version of the Land Rover to celebrate it’s 65th birthday. The result is a masterpiece, a summary of the Studio’s whole oeuvre in all it’s layered facets. A sculpture that questions escapism, power relationships and above all Studio Job’s own work.
- Year
- 2013
- Dimension
- 300 x 520 x 290 cm
- Material
- Land Rover Defender 90, aluminum, bronze, brass, european oak, faience (ceramic), swarovski crystals, hand blown glass, hand paintings, harness leather, high gloss pu coating, rubber ps 160, satin lining, silver leaf, smurray, stained glass, vlisco wax printed fabric, 2k alkyd hand painting, 24k gold leaf.
Hotch-Potch
“Nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion. The Automotive is purely magical, made with Studio Job's hand, heart and fantasy. I love it!” - David Holder, Maison Ladurée, 2015
Automobile
A Haute Couture Car
“For a designer, one of the most prestigious commissions is the design of a car. Preferably for a famous brand or for an iconic car. Designing a car means you are successful! There are several examples of this, but I will only mention the Ford by Marc Newson and the recent Renault by Rose Lovegrove. Almost always these become ‘concept cars’. A styling exercise at the highest level. The cars look like they have come from Mars, have various futuristic and practical gadgets and high-end ingenuities which the design team of the respective car brand can truly admire… at least, that seems the purpose. Sometimes beautiful, often magnificent, but often filled with promise!
When we spoke with Land Rover about the icon of Land Rover, the Defender, which now officially reaches pensionable age, everything that’s described above was exactly what we didn’t want. It should not become a stylistic exercise, no beautification, no gadgets, nothing futuristic. We wanted a Job Land Rover that’s here and now. A sculpture of today!
It all got totally out of hand! The moment the car entered our workshop, inspiration started to flow out of my ears, one idea after another. This Land Rover had to cross the world of Studio Job, dig up her own past and also take with her the most exotic and conflicting elements of the African continent on her freaky journey.
It quickly became a rolling cabinet of curiosities. The mysterious car that Doctor Snuggles always wanted to have. It’s the Queen’s car, but also the throne of a chieftain, and at the same time a mechanical rhinoceros, a freak show. An autonomous caricature for the leading part in a video by a leading pop star…
This Defender has become everything it could have become. Like a cubist art piece with various perspectives, it’s as chaotic and bizarre as life itself. Certainly not a stylistic exercise from the design bible, but definitely a rudimentary work of art, conjured from the high hat – also the controversial palette – of Studio Job. An anti-hero that anticipates itself. A diary and a mirror.”
– Job Smeets, Antwerp, April 2013
