Cheers to Global Warming…and Novas!
We realize that many of you have been anxiously awaiting an update on the 1978 Chevy Nova that a couple of artists attempted to immortalize inside a giant block of ice in Michigan. So, here you go. Throwing caution to the wind and ignoring Al Gore’s frequent rants on the nasty effects of global warming, Mary Carothers and Sue Wrbican have succeeded. Well, almost.
We realize that many of you have been anxiously awaiting an update on the 1978 Chevy Nova that a couple of artists attempted to immortalize inside a giant block of ice in Michigan.
So, here you go. Throwing caution to the wind and ignoring Al Gore’s frequent rants on the nasty effects of global warming, Mary Carothers and Sue Wrbican have succeeded. Well, almost.
The car is now partially embedded (nearly up to its hood!) inside of a giant block of ice. Despite the artistic duo’s hard work, a recent bout of warm weather made it difficult to freeze enough layers of water to completely cover the car. Undaunted, the two grabbed their trusty ice picks and were able to harvest blocks of ice from a nearby lake, which they used to cover the remaining portions of the car.
The frozen Nova in it's final form.
According to the artists, the evolved masterpiece still represents a need for culture to think about energy use (or send yet another conflicting message on the effects of global warming).
No matter how you interpret their work, the artists are enjoying their success while they can—local forecasters are predicting another bout of warm weather starting next week.
As you recall from our previous article on this chilling saga of man vs. machine vs. mother-nature vs. artistic vision, Carothers and Wrbican have spent the past several months freezing their work of art outside the J. Robert Van Pelt Library on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Mich.
A closeup of the front of the Nova.
The two artists claim that the frozen Nova is an exploration of America’s relationship with the automobile and the environmental changes that it has created.
"The frozen car points to the classic struggle of culture versus nature," says Wrbican, who also notes how the automobile has stood for freedom and power in American culture. And the artists' choice of model was deliberate — the '78 Chevy Nova being one of The Big Three's last true "gas guzzlers."
The artsy duo had initially planned to drive the car to the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston in an attempt to make a political statement. However, the car broke down before it could make the trip…and the larger political statement.
The Nova sitting inside the frame during the freezing process.
Hoping to cut their losses while at the same time making their statement, the fledgling art students hatched their most recent scheme.
Freezing it in a giant block of ice.
With the help of a group of high school students from Hancock High School’s wood shop class, the duo built a frame grabbed a nearby hose and began dreaming of the day when this icon of our gas-guzzling past would forever be immortalized as a giant popsicle?
