It was "can I handle it on the road alone in a vehicle that puts me smack in the center of attention, this after 7 or 8 bad months of not being able to cope in the so-called "real or normal world?"

Well, I'm happy to announce that the answer was a resounding YES!

I'm going to share with you a poem in a moment that affirms that success and that will hopefully inspire even one of you to conquer any fears or hesitation you might have about the side effects of car art such as cops and rednecks and people judging you or you yourself just feeling odd or freaky sometimes.

Perhaps one of the most absurd things I have heard said about having an art car came out of my father's mouth. "You've got to get out there and make a career for yourself," he said, to which he added, "You've got to stop hiding behind an art car."

As all of you who drive art cars are aware, you cannot hide behind an art car. It's like being naked sometimes. I think I felt more at ease being stark naked at Burning Man than I sometimes feel driving Duke. Like, when I'm in a bad mood for instance.

As we were cruising San Francisco last year at Westfest, David Best told me he doesn't bother registering his cars anymore. This astounded me, for though I hadn't experienced nearly the police harassment Harrod claims, I had chatted up plenty of cops on the societal benefits of car art. I couldn't imagine going that far with it, to simply fly in the face of authority to that extent.

But something has happened to Duke and I since last we traveled far. We seem to have crossed some invisible line, to have ventured so far into the Twilight Zone that cops no longer see us, or are simply so daunted they just leave us alone. As I got closer to Minneapolis, I stopped frequently at rest stops to raise gas money in postcard sales so I could make it here with out dipping into my emergency fund and people were just amazed, especially young drivers, that I hadn't been stopped once on route. I was never even tailed, an experience I'm sure you all familiar with.

All this came together this morning to inspire the poem your about to hear.

Before I read that, I'd like to make a couple of announcements.

Firstly, I will be chronicling my/our summer's travels for a number of media. At least once a week I hope to be emailing chunks of the grand adventure to Penny Smith for posting on artcars.com. And in addition to the web site, I have interested several magazines in the story including two out of Canada Outpost and Borderlines, a mag called Alternative Press here in the States and oddly enough, the UN Chronicle. And who knows, God willing, Rolling Stone, whose editor spent a full ten minutes on the phone with me last week and didn't say no.

It is my goal to combine my talents as reporter/writer and art car artist to shed some light on the art car world from the inside. The Rolling Stone editor with whom I spoke said she thought the whole art car gig sounded more like a photo and cutline, rather than a full narrative story. I intend to show her that there is definitely a narrative to art cars.

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by Pineapple Publishing and Consulting
Art Cars in Cyberspace ©2004 Pineapple Publishing and Consulting
Contact us at artcars@artcars.com

Last update April 1, 2004