Crane shots of the A. R. Penck Z1. Stills, crane shot back of the car. Stop trick. Crane shots hood. Dolly shots, stills passenger side. Long shots passenger side, driver side. Dolly shots, stills driver side.

In the past, artists used to paint the sun or cornfields. And before that, they painted velvet, marble or peaches. Today, things are a little more abstract, because times have changed. There are different developments. That might change again sometime. However, today’s artists have reached a certain amount of abstractness. This means that things have been simplified. Every artist has his own game plan and has his “battles” prepared, which he can put into action when needed. What I want to say is that every artist has a certain amount of shapes or signs stored away that he can use at any given moment. I was interested in dealing with the technical design of a car. It is said that cars are the main symbols of the Western world. For many years, I was only a BMW passenger. The funny thing about a piece of art is not WHAT is presented, but THAT it is presented at all and HOW it is presented. The essence of Van Gogh is not THAT it’s a cornfield, but HOW he painted it. The same applies to me. This defines one’s style. It’s an element of painting: proportions, distances, rhythm, shapes, the relation between shapes, etc. You can dig deeper, if you want to. A piece of art is also basically existence. It’s either a reflected existence or an invented existence. It really depends. 2 + X = 5. X is a certain amount and thus something you don’t know. Here, you can see two unknows. Then there are three unknowns and one unknown. You must assume that you can think about this whatever you want. But that always depends on your way of thinking. I can explain to you what I would think if I saw something like this – had it been painted by somebody else.

Various Shots A. R. Penck works on the art car; plays free jazz in a Band This colour could be a little thicker…Still thicker? …Yes, a little bit… Brigitte! A piece of cloth! Where is it? Okay, let’s take a break. Almost done, right?

Richard Gaul on A. R. Penck German. Richard Gaul on A. R. Penck English.

Of course, one wonders why original, primitive symbols which look like rock or cave paintings, are painted on a modern car such as the Z1. You must understand that to A.R. Penck, these words are part of a general pictorial language, which he called “Standard”. He developed this language in the 60s and 70s. The stick man, which symbolizes mankind, the all-seeing eye, the snake, which stands for nature, are assembled in constantly changing combinations. They can cover anything – be it a canvas or an industrial object.

Effect shots A.R. Penk Art Car in the Studio.