The Project
The art car (and matching bike) were created as part of a spring class my senior year. Rice wanted to commemorate their 100th anniversary by participating in Houston’s Annual Art Car Parade. It was the mission of the class to come up with a car design, decorate, and build the car.
My Role
I was part of a class effort to design, construct I helped carve and cover the foam wings and face. I helped cut cans, carved styrofoam, and later welded a winged bike for participation in the parade.
Timeframe
2012: Spring Semester
The class started by brainstorming an idea for the art car, several ideas were floated but the owl ended up being the most popular choice.
Once we had decided on the idea, we had to sketch, model and build the final car. We knew starting off what our donor car would be and we got the opportunity to make clay models of how we might reshape it.
The materials used had to be durable and stand up tot the elements because the car was parked outside while we were working on it.
One of our professors was able to work with housing and dining to secure the old cans that we ended up disassembling and using for the feathers. We were fortunate that the contents of the cans had stained the liners and contributed to the variation of colors seen. For example, tomato products created the orange tinged ones.
Having recently learned to weld at a makerspace truck that had visited the campus earlier in the year, I was able to help professors weld the metal frame used for the bird wings.
A few days before the art car parade we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to create a bike. The bikes were donated from the university police department's collection of bikes that were abandoned at the end of the year. Since we wanted the bikes to match the car, I chose to give mine wings and was able to use the lids from the cans that were used for the car feathers for the bike feathers.
I worked with a professor to cut, grind, and weld the frame together and then weld them frame to the bike. I then coated the frame in chicken wire and attached the can feathers.
Then, after graduation I got to run over to the parade and ride my bike in front of hundreds of spectators. I’ll never forget the smile on people’s faces as I biked by.
Key Takeaways
I had never been in a parade before and I really appreciated the opportunity to spread joy and fun in the wider Houston community.
I left the bike unlocked downtown in Houston in the hopes that someone would take it and bike it around town. I’m not really sure where it ended up, but I like to imagine it’s still out there cruising around.
One of my favorite things about this course was learning more about the alternative art scene in Houston. We got to visit the Orange Show, a wild pseudo amusement park constructed by a retired postal worker. We also learned about the Beer Can House, a house entirely clad in old beer cans.