A Mini as Art Vehicle for a Beneficial Society & Healthy Transcendent Consciousness. by John Catso

  -- --------------Question the authority of all conceptions. - Kant.   -----------------------------

         Art is the ephemeral enigma and human compulsion. We need art in our lives to enhance the subtle energies of mankind & hopefully bring us deep feelings of inspiration, empowerment, awe, joy & other emotions. Art is something that stimulates an individual's thoughts, emotions, beliefs, or ideas through the senses.  With different viewpoints and various acumen of appreciations, Art in a culture ( like Pop or Street for example) can be everywhere for some people yet nowhere for others. Some see it and some don't. It is a unique and evocative personal experience.
         Besides being a mode of transportation, cars can also be for some a status symbol & expression of our personalities but most importantly, Cars are one of the leading causes of air pollution & climate change ...
     Passenger vehicles & commercial, are a major pollution contributor, producing significant amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollution. Vehicle pollutants harm our health causing untold sickness and contain greenhouse gases that influence climate change.

In the 1960's the Mini car helped inspire the name for the Mini skirt, a very short skirt popular at the time.

        -------   --- The Mini Cooper arises -----     --------   In 1959 the car known as the Mini was introduced to the public and the world had never seen a car quite like it.
Small nimble and compacted, with the Mini, "Less seems to be more". Certain innovations gives it a distinct bug like appearance and cuteness factor.
     The Mini was a package that came to symbolize the very essence of the youthful 1960s culture as a form of independence, nonconformity & spontaneity, along with even influencing styles of the times.
-------At some point in time, Fashion met Car. ---
In 1963 the Mini Skirt came into the public eyes as a fashion statement when British designer Mary Quaint (known as the mother of the miniskirt) began popularizing raised hemlines & named the fashion item after her favorite car: a Mini Cooper.   The 1960s were defined by counter-culture—society was questioning traditional standards and ushering in a new era of expressive sexual freedoms.
Thus the Mini became an alluring  trend outside of the automobile.
    The mini skirt came at a time when the world was changing and it wasn't long before the mini skirt became a symbol. A symbol of the feminist movement, of female liberation expressing sexuality through the titillation of wearing very short skirts.
----------At another point in time, Art met Car.--------------------------
            Over 50 years later the public continues it's infatuation with the Mini Cooper. as an art statement of the times through the cultural practice of Art Cars as a means of beautifying society & communicating positive art into peoples visions.
The artist designer Sasso ( instagram: @Sassothecat ) was tasked in August 2023 with painting a 2013 Mini Cooper after being commissioned by a buyer ( Paul) who lives in Venice) as he  wanted something remarkable for himself to drive around the areas and possibly also gift it to his teenage daughter.

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2013 Mini Cooper becomes transformed into an Art Car.

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One Shot paint used to paint Mini Cooper

 The paint used was a brand called One Shot which is a very high gloss, oil based lettering enamel made to be used on metal or brick outdoors. The Made In America paint has been around since the 1940's and in the 1950's became a favorite of artists who pin striped & painted cars.
The artist also mixed some of his own colors & applied two coats when possible.

     The artists goal was a Transformative Art experience as a vehicle to communicate an appreciation of good energy & visual stimulation.
 World cultural Art, Surrealism, Modernism and artists like  Leonardo Da Vinci, Alexander Calder, Piet Mondrian, Peter Max and others were meditated on during the paint process but merely as inspirations rather than influence, as the style is wholly original in itself as a signature work.

Mini Cooper Art Car in progress.

Stream of conscious flowing lines are depictions of the air and water as waves of energy mixed with color vibrate in the light.
Since Venice California is where the city meets the sea (slum by the sea to some) then an urban decay is left revitalized by new modern art depictions of the ocean and clouds.

Work in progress, Flowing lines become clouds and waves while straight lines depict light.

             With art operating on such a much higher frequency than usually experienced, the physicality of the color structure is only part of the equation and the sub conscious plays a role in the communication as well since there are no words in this abstract piece.
 You see it only once and know it, there is no filter, as the art is a bridge to a higher consciousness and creative evocation of the life force.
  The sub-conscious and visualizing played an important role in this art rendering on the Mini Cooper. The goal involves a transformation of consciousness through color & form.

      During the weeks long process of painting, the artist became aware of the writings of American mystic & esoteric philosopher Franklin Merrell-Wolff ( American b. 1887- d.1985 ) & it became a part of the artwork as it merged well with the Stream of Consciousness flow aspect of the Mini paint undertaking.
        Wolff devoted himself to the goal of transcending the normal limits of human consciousness. After exploring various mystical teachings and paths, he dedicated himself to the path of jnana yoga, which is the yogic paths of knowledge, action (karma), of loving devotion to a personal god and the path of meditation.
He also studied the writings of Shankara.

   Wolff wrote the Philosophy of Consciousness Without An Object A Discussion of the Nature of
Transcendental Consciousness.
More here -- https://www.merrell-wolff.org/
“The ultimate objective is to facilitate, as far as possible, that event which, when achieved, is called Fundamental Realization or Enlightenment.”  -- Franklin Merrell-Wolff

The  Mini Art Car now seen in Venice Los Angeles ( update: 01/29/2024 the Venice Mini now lives in Reno, Nevada U.S.A.

Thank you for reading this, The Mini story ,which is part 2 of another blog entry about Art Cars called Art, Art Cars & the Beautification of our Urban Communities 

A 2013 Mini Cooper becomes an Art Vehicle.