By Based Upon
Synonymous with luxury and transcending automotive art, the Rolls-royce name has delighted and intrigued the well-heeled for more than a century, as it has meticulously established a reputation for delivering the highest possible levels of personalisation in any automobile.
From the first coach-built Rolls-royce saloons of the early 20th century, through seven generations of the flagship Phantom range, top-of-the-line Rollers have always raised the bar for automotive luxury in their own way.
Yet, in the newest member of the Phantom lineage – the eighth to be exact – Rolls-royce has attained a level of bespoke that not even this most illustrious of automakers has managed to achieve before. a single pane of hermetically sealed glass over an individual artwork that spans the width of the dashboard.
This achievement from Rolls-royce is more than merely a new feature for the car. It makes it possible for Rolls-royce owners to install a specially commissioned artwork in the dashboard of their cars, combining two of the interests that Rolls-royce buyers are known to be interested in: beautiful art, and the world’s best cars.
By developing The Gallery, Rolls-royce says it will soon invite its patrons to commission artworks for their Phantoms, in essence bringing art into art. To demonstrate the possibilities, Rolls-royce commissioned seven artists to offer their interpretation of the space, with dramatically different results.
London artist collective, Based Upon, believes every artwork should tell a story and, when commissioned to create a piece for The Gallery, chose as their inspiration the history of Rolls-royce as a brand grounded in experimentation and seemingly impossible feats.
To create the artwork, a piece of silk was pulled through a tank of water, with the effect being captured on camera. After choosing the ideal portrait from hundreds of images, it was analysed and reworked in clay and wax before being optimised to fit The Gallery space. The finished piece was ultimately machined in aluminium, polished, and curved to resemble the shape of the original flowing fabric.