I Was Out A Couple Days Because I Was Finishing An Art Piece That Isn’t About Cars But I’m Going To Show You Anyway

It’s always a little strange to get back into regular writing after even a short period of doing something else. There’s some very specific brain muscles that get developed when you write on a daily basis, and I think they tend to atrophy shockingly quickly. But it’s still healthy to take an occasional break and do something else, even if just for a few days, and I’m pretty sure I did just that. I’m going to tell you a bit about what I did, even though it doesn’t really involve cars. So don’t tell David.

There’s a public art festival around where I live called Uproar, where artwork is made by selected artists and then distributed around the area in public places. I’m a big fan of public art and think events like this are ideal for reminding people just how much better life is when you throw a bunch of art at it.

Anyway, this year, about a day before the deadline, I decided to enter a proposal, despite being way too busy and not really certain I’d be actually able to pull it off. Still, I assumed that my chances of getting chosen were fairly low, so what could it hurt?

Well, the selection committee must have had a moment of pity or a mild, collective stroke, because they accepted my idea, which was great save for the fact that I had to actually, you know, do it. The idea I came up with was one based around a favorite medium: repurposed arcade video game cabinets.

The concept was to take an arcade machine and make it a medium for something that was about as far from a video game as possible: live plants. Here was my initial sketch:

So, basically, the plan was to replace the screen of an arcade machine with a terrarium full of plants, but keep the interactive nature of an arcade game by providing controls for watering and giving the plants sunlight. I changed the joystick-operated sun-mirror-whatever to a far more manageable button for some grow lights, and retained a button that operated a pump to spray/drip water onto the plants.

Here’s it in action:

 

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A post shared by Jason Torchinsky (@jasontorch)

I think I managed to stay pretty close to my initial vision, I’m happy to say. The whole thing runs on a car battery, so there’s a car tie-in, and this was a big impetus for me finally getting the flywheel fixed in my ’89 F-150, since I’m finally sick of starting the damn thing with a wrench.

I had the clutch replaced, too, and now it shifts smoothly and starts without having to roll under the car! Just like a Bugatti Veyron! It’s no different, except the F-150 can carry a whole arcade machine and a Bugatti can’t.

The cabinet started life as an Atari Tempest cabinet, and was then converted to be a Golden Axe cabinet at some point, complete with this deeply hilarious marquee art:

What is that dude riding? Is that some kind of griffin? A hawk-bear? And that dragon looks like he should have a piano keyboard under those claw-hands.

I replaced all the art and controls, and now there’s just HYDRATE! and PHOTOSYNTHESIZE! buttons, though you can also breathe your own CO2 onto the plants for a bonus.

I know next to nothing about plants, but I think the terrarium plants look pretty good! There’s even an orchid in there!

How long do we think that car battery will last? How many times a week will I need to refill that gallon-sized water tank? I have no idea right now. I just hope people like it and have some fun with it. If you’re around Hillsborough, NC, then please feel free to take a little walk to the Thomas Stevens Gallery, and try it out. Give it light and water! Experience hardcore vegetative action! You don’t even need a quarter!

I’ll get back to car-focused content, of course, but I was just excited that I actually managed to get this thing done in time, and I wanted to show all of you. Thanks for indulging me!