The MINI goes Graffiti!

The canvas, a MINI Cooper Cabrio worth $126,000 on the road, had a psychedelic makeover by Muhd Sufian Hamri aka TraseOne, and Luthfi Mustafah aka The Killer Gerbil.

“The design was inspired by various elements found in Little India,” says Trase, whose specialty in handling spray paint as his primary medium has won him several awards and competitions, including the annual Hip Hop Fest Graffiti Competition in which he won first place two consecutive years from 2003.

Trase, who is self-described as “eternally in an experimental stage”, is constantly fusing different disciplines and mediums in works that are best described as “neo-graffiti”. “While I was fascinated at the array of colors and variety of saris on display at some of the textile stores, Gerbil took interest in the colorful signage that donned most of the shops.”

His alter ego, Gerbil, has been creating urban art or street art using diverse mediums and surfaces to spread “free art for the masses”. “I do not believe that art stretches only on canvas. Instead I bring the gallery to the streets so the young can enjoy and the old can appreciate it.”

They have certainly done it with the moving feast they created on the MINI.

“Executing was a blast. While both of us made sure we do not inhibit or over power each other’s style of painting, we made sure that the car should have our names in it. Part of the fact that graffiti art, where both our backgrounds and exposure in art started, is about writing one’s name on any surface, car even.

“Right from the start, we let our intuition control the hands. The decision on placements of colors and text were based on spontaneity, an important characteristic of street art. Something too orderly and systematic would make the car a different character, and we wanted it to be just like us – young, spontaneous, carefree, uninhibited.

After weeks of planning, and a few drafts, the actual work was done in four hours.

“We were very excited and kept our fingers crossed,” says Cheryl Chiok, General Manager of Trans Eurokars which sells MINI in Singapore and which supplied the car for the artists’ to work on. “We are also surprised it was completed in such a short time. But it is beautiful! It is very MINI, which is integrative, extroverted and most of all, chic!”

Trase and Gerbil agree: “We were surprised at how it turned out eventually, considering the fact that both of us were initially quite apprehensive on painting a new car. All in all, we sum up this event with sincere gratitude to the people at MINI for entrusting us to leave our marks on its baby. It’s been a trip indeed.”

The MINI "Trip Hop" can be viewed at the St James Power Station entrance from the 3rd to 10th of March 2007, or at the MINI habitat, 27 Leng Kee Road, from 11th March 2007 onwards.

Credits: nikolaiski