Comments on: Four miles of yarn on a car

Four miles of yarn on a car

beagle — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:26:38 -0800

Timothy Klein gets art. I mean, he really gets it. And he likes cars. So when he decided to become an artist, he covered a 1967 Chrysler Imperial Crown luxury car with yarn. Correct, yarn. Then, Tim didn't just show his car off to the local cruzers at the Dairy Queen. No. Tim took it to Artscape at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore in 2002, where he met other famous automotive artists like Harrod Blank and Chris Hubbard. He took it to the Outsider Art Fair in New York in 2003. Wherever he takes the Yarn Car, he documents the trips on his site. He got featured in Reader's Digest and "made Diane Sawyer giggle". Tim will be in Houston on May 10 for the 2008 Art Car Parade. Don't miss the yarn phone in the car.

By: absalom

absalom — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:29:32 -0800

Holy shit that thing is cool looking. Must be a bitch to maintain.

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:41:59 -0800

Needs kitten insurance

By: M.C. Lo-Carb!

M.C. Lo-Carb! — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 15:54:32 -0800

pull this thread as I drive away

By: dan g.

dan g. — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:16:28 -0800

impractically delicious!

By: quonsar

quonsar — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:22:55 -0800

cruzin in santa cruise!

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:27:48 -0800

Huh. Today is the first day of the portion of my life I spend realizing that I need a yarnphone.

By: metabrilliant

metabrilliant — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:44:43 -0800

I remember once seeing a van that was covered in multicolored patches of shag carpet, and never thought I'd find the vehicle that could best it in my imagination. Behold!

By: BrianBoyko

BrianBoyko — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:50:54 -0800

This was at the 2007 Maker Faire in Austin and I'll have a video interview with him uploaded when I get home. >:)

By: Marie Mon Dieu

Marie Mon Dieu — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:48:12 -0800

I have actually talked to this guy via email a few years ago when I found the yarn car site from some web surfing (a blog?). Really nice person. Really cool car.

By: patr1ck

patr1ck — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:12:32 -0800

I looked at the html of the first link. I almost died. Neat car, though.

By: heathkit

heathkit — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:25:41 -0800

I had the pleasure of working for Tim for a couple of years. Great guy, and the art car is really neat. His girlfriend also has a really beautifully restored old taxi cab.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:50:16 -0800

patr1ck writes "I looked at the html of the first link. I almost died." The doctype is HTML 4.0 Transitional. Actually, if this were 1997, I'd be somewhat impressed that the code was clean and looked like it was done by hand. But, yeah, it's not 1997. Still, no generator tag, and no marquee text or "under construction" gifs. Better than a lot of sites of a decade ago.

By: krinklyfig

krinklyfig — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:59:09 -0800

And the car is just seriously badass. I remember a car from my hometown ... somewhat infamous art car in the area. It was a pickup truck covered with a material that made it look like the whole truck was made from adobe. IIRC, it was ruined in an accident, so I can't find any images of it online.

By: Herodios

Herodios — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 19:10:02 -0800

NZ sculptor Jeff Thompson's 1974 Holden HQ station wagon covered in corrugated iron. Driven throughout New Zealand and Australia, currently on exhibit Te Papa Tongarewa museum, Wellington, New Zealand.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 02:56:48 -0800

Fantastic. The Flickr photoset taken from inside the car is pure genius.

By: Guy_Inamonkeysuit

Guy_Inamonkeysuit — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 07:49:21 -0800

There was a dude in New Haven twenty-thirty years ago who had a van completely covered with Astroturf -- some sort of artificial grass, anyway. It was the damndest thing you ever saw. I could never make up my mind if it was cool or idiotic, but it sure as hell was different. This isn't it, but it'll give you the idea. Actually, I'm amazed that anyone else would do this!

By: adamrice

adamrice — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:28:15 -0800

I've had the good fortune to see the yarncar at a few events where artcars gather. The technique is ingeniously simple: he coated the car with the stiff-loop side of velcro, and just pressed the yarn in. When a spot gets ragged, he rips it out and presses more in.