Part of Clive’s work derives from our car-culture obsession.
Initially the pieces seem pleasing and playful with their bright colours and smooth surfaces. But on closer consideration, the viewer is pulled past the veneer of the presentation to what is occurring within the work as a whole.
The idea first presented itself during his then forty-minute commute to his studio. He utilized the minivan, the vehicle we all love to hate; a vehicle that most people refuse to acknowledge as an extension of themselves. Though Clive has never owned a minivan, he has driven one. “I found it very useful for hauling things and strangely – seductive. It’s like I’m king of the road travelling in a portable living room but completely removed from the romance of the road.”
The work was further developed by extending the critique of the car culture by using the Volkswagen Beetle. “Known originally as ‘the people’s car’ it applied more generally to all car culture; whereas, the minivan spoke to a more specific sector.”
When the new VW Beetles first came out they were criticized as soulless. Clive wondered: "Are the 'new Beetles' a monster of our own making spurred on by the merciless machine of capitalism fueled by greed, envy and oil? Or is it just a really cool car?" |
