unstoppable spirit sculptures fuse art with land rover discovery sport

unstoppable spirit sculptures fuse art with land rover discovery sport
image courtesy of land rover

the ‘unstoppable spirit’ sculpture presented at frieze london, is a collaboration between italian artist nino mustica and land rover design director, gerry mcgovern. designboom was on hand for the installation’s unveiling at the royal festival hall, where it is being displayed from october 14th – 19th, 2014. the work comprises of two steel and glass fiber combination 7 x 6 x 6meter sculptures whose formal aesthetics were born out of the style and capability of the land rover discovery sport. their large size enables 1:1 scaled models of the car to be incorporated into the handcrafted pieces, demonstrating the appearance and technical approaches associated with the disciplines of car design and art equally.

image courtesy of land rover

‘unstoppable spirit is about the fusion between automotive design and contemporary art,’ says nino mustica. ‘as an artist I am able to work in the abstract with full creative freedom, however the discovery sport is a piece of industrial design that must be both versatile and beautiful. this work is a fascinating exploration of how these worlds collide and interact.’

teaser video of the collaboration
videos courtesy of land rover

‘I have always been a huge admirer of nino’s work and I’m delighted to be collaborating on this truly unique project,’ says gerry mcgovern, recently appointed as a visiting professor at the royal college of art. ‘our team at land rover understands that art and design are central to the creation of highly desirable vehicles that resonate on an emotional level. I believe art and design enrich people’s lives in all their manifestations. that’s why I’m proud to be debuting unstoppable spirit in such an iconic location on london’s south bank.’

debuting the sculptures at the royal festival hall

the partnership between the italian artist and mcgovern allowed both craftsmen to explore each others’ creative discipline on a emotional and physical level through the fusion of automotive design and art. to accomplish the curved surfacing desired by mustica and mcgovern, a production technique normally reserved for car prototyping was developed using land rover’s virtual reality cave. this process enables engineers to visualize full-size models of components and even the entire vehicle, long before physical parts are produced. for the collaborators, real-sized modifications could be made and experienced as the software simulated the sculpture forms as if they were in front of them. the objects were then manufactured in turin taking over 8,000 working hours to construct.

land rover design director, gerry mcgovern (left) and nino mustica (right)
image courtesy of land rover

the imagination to partner up had been a desire for gerry mcgovern for the past 15 years thanks to his interests in modern architecture, furniture and art; and the idea became reality with the launch of the discovery sport, as land rover began redefining the british heritage brand in a 21st century light. initially the duo conceived the installation as a structure in which the automobile would simply drive over in a sort of performance piece, but as mustica observed the lines, strengths and volumes of the land rover discovery sport, he instead decided to make the vehicle a physical part of the artwork. blue and red were the only colors used in order to reflect how the car is as one with the sculpture and to draw attention to how the curves add intriguing tones and highlights.

image courtesy of land rover

mcgovern sums up ‘unstoppable spirit’; ‘at first glance, an abstract artist and automotive designer populate very different worlds but in reality, there are many parallels between the two. collaborating on unstoppable spirit has been a fascinating journey for both of us.’ with a background of fine art and one of industrial design, work that may seem as unparalleled is shown hand-in-hand reaching into the london sky.

image © designboom