Ron Arad’s ‘Reverse Again’ NFTs pay homage to the iconic Fiat 500

UK based artist and architect Ron Arad will soon present his first NFT collection in collaboration with the NFT platform Shifting Vision. Arad’s NFTs, touted ‘Reverse Again’, is an extension of his exploration into both handmade and digital processes. This exploration by Arad first began in 2014 when six of his ‘Pressed Flower’ sculptures were showcased as part of the exhibition ‘In Reverse’ at the Design Museum Holon. These sculptures were made out of compressed Fiat 500s and were mounted on the gallery’s walls in different colours. 'In Reverse' was an exhibition about physical to digital transition - but backwards. Rather than manipulate materials to render them functional or render digital models towards a functional object, I ‘reversed’ perfectly functional objects to render them useless,” says Arad.

Arad’s recent NFT collection serves as an exploration into the impact of compression on automobiles, specifically Fiat 500, which is a symbol for both Italy and Arad’s generation. His project involves a mix of both physical experiments and digital simulations. ‘It’s a very endearing vehicle. Everyone has stories about their first ever kiss in a Fiat 500. We’re not destroying the cars, we’re immortalising them,” says Arad about the ‘Reverse Again’ NFT. Arad has been fascinated with the iconic car for a very long time. This NFT project serves to powerfully etch his childhood memories with his father’s car through art.

The NFTs, scheduled to be auctioned on April 24, 2022, comprise a total of 19 different artworks, minted this year. They include ‘Let’s Drop it, Ok?’, ‘Drop Me a Line’, ‘Little Yellow Car’, ‘Slow Outburst’ and ‘You Break You Buy’. ‘Let’s Drop it, Ok?’ comprises a sketch that Arad made in 2013 to pay homage to the car. The mould was made by scanning and then dissecting the scan into slices in order to make it fit the metal panels of the car. The physical version, titled ‘Roddy Giacosa’, has now been flattened into a digital format and is called ‘Let’s Drop it, Ok?’.

‘Drop Me a Line’, on the other hand, makes use of hand drawn sketches, while also projecting the light reflected from the stainless steel rods over the drawing. It serves as a true symbiosis of physical and digital art. ‘Slow Outburst’ comprises 15 different colour variations, namely Klein Blue, Classic Yellow, Blackest Black, Orange, Metallic Grey, Fern Green, Peacock Blue, Pastel Pink, Pastel blue, Pastel Turquoise, Lavender, Millennial Pink, Raspberry Wine, Coffee and Ultra Violet. It serves to showcase a realistic transformation of a 3-D object into a two-dimensional one. After rigorous experimentation and research, the final visuals were obtained through digital digital means, such that the three-minute video looks like a realistic car crash. The soundtrack for the video was composed by Dario Marianelli, who is an Oscar winning composer.

The ‘Little Yellow Car’ by Arad is based on one of his early sketches that were developed as part of the ‘Slow Outburst’ development. The 30 second video that makes up this unique NFT also comprises music by Arad’s brother, Atar Arad, who is a violist and composer. Lastly, the ‘You Break You Buy’ NFT, made up of 3 minutes worth of audio and visuals, is another aberration of the ‘Slow Outburst’ NFT. Together, the series comes together to pay homage to the iconic automobile through the latest offerings in the creative arena, that is, digital art.

Shifting Vision is a NFT platform that operates with the motto of lessening the gap between physical art and digital art. They regularly collaborate with creatives from multifarious fields to create artworks that can enable the experience of art and technology in new ways.