autoevolution
 

Artist Shl0ms Blows Up Real Lamborghini Huracan, Turns Wreckage Into NFTs

On February 2, 2022, somewhere in a desert in the United States, while the entire world was looking at a $12 million cold cube on display in a park in New York, a Lamborghini Huracan died a very fiery and, many say, unnecessary death. The link between the Castello Cube and the poor Lambo is cryptocurrency.
Lamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckage 6 photos
Photo: Shl0ms
Lamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckageLamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckageLamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckageLamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckageLamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckage
Cryptocurrency and NFTs are inescapable these days, even if you yourself are not a holder or proponent of either. Hailed as the mainstays of the digital future, they are linked one with the other and, for the time being, still to real-life objects: fiat currency and solid stuff, respectively. The Castello Cube mentioned above, a 410-pound (186-kg) cube made of 24-karat gold, is a perfect example of that, as it was built specifically to promote a new crypto – and all the gold bars used for it were acquired with cash made from the pre-sale of said cryptocurrency.

Enter $CAR, the latest art project linked to the world of NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and crypto to make serious waves. $CAR is the brainchild of anonymous artist Shl0ms, and it saw him and a 100-person team buy a used but perfectly functional (albeit slightly garish) Lamborghini Huracan just so they could blow it up.

It wasn’t for fun, though: the theme of destruction as a form of creation is being brought into the digital realm. The explosion was meticulously controlled, the artist tells The Block, so the vehicle wasn’t damaged beyond recognition but “physically fractionalized” into 999 pieces. Each of these pieces of wreckage were retrieved after the blast, filmed in 4K and turned into NFTs. In simpler terms, Shl0ms blew up a perfectly fine (and expensive) car to make short video NFTs of parts of the wreckage.

Lamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckage
Photo: Shl0ms
Of these 999 NFTs, 111 were offered to team members and the original investor who co-paid for the art experiment, along with Shl0ms himself. The other 888 will go on auction on February 25, with a starting price of .01 Ether, or approximately $23 in government-issued money today. To be clear, winners at the auction will only get the NFTs of the videos of the wrecked parts, not the actual videos and not the actual Lambo parts. It’s the artist’s take on skeuomorphism. As Shl0ms puts it, the parts themselves are too nasty and dangerous, and are being kept in storage “for the foreseeable future.”

If this isn’t confusing enough, there is another twist: Shl0ms says that the $CAR project is “more general criticism of greed and short-termism in crypto.” Contrary to several reports out there, it’s not a “protest” against cryptocurrency but “optimism” in that it can be used for good, and not just for satisfying short-term greed. Shl0ms also says that most of the proceeds from the auction will go to an art foundation to fund future public art installations, so there goes potential criticism against him that he’s lining his pockets with the same crypto he’s claiming to be critiquing with the art project.

It’s all very convoluted and debatable, and it’s all these things on purpose, because art is meant to be divisive and disruptive. What is clear about $CAR is that it’s not the act of some random YouTuber who takes out his fancy car into the desert to damage it for clout or, at the very least, that there was nothing random about it. The project was carefully planned and designed, from the moment the car was bought (with many miles on the odo, the artist says for the same media outlet), to how the explosion was rigged, and to logistics and production.

The Huracan cost a little under $250,000, but the whole project implied costs in the vicinity of $1 million, which were divided between the anonymous investor and the artist. No word on how long the pre-production phase lasted, but Shl0ms casually mentions that, before blowing up the Huracan, they had to “rehearse” on another car.

Lamborghini Huracan dies very fiery death so artist Shl0ms can make NFTs of parts of the wreckage
Photo: Shl0ms
Indeed, Shl0ms does have a bone to pick with Lamborghinis or, better yet, with what they stand for, saying on Twitter earlier this month, “Also, want to be clear that I hate Lambos and that is why I want to destroy one.” But this is more than just one individual’s dislike of supercars, or the apparent senseless destruction of one. Or so Shl0ms promises.

For the rest of the world, those of us who can’t be bothered about NFTs and crypto, or owning NFTs of videos of parts of supercars damaged on purpose to make said videos, well, there’s not much left to say. Except that, when the 888 NFTs hit the auction block, Shl0ms will release the full video of the blast. A teaser is available below.



If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Elena Gorgan
Elena Gorgan profile photo

Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories