Just over a week to go before the big departure down under. Well at least the weather will be better than what's coming London's way this winter.

I'm looking forward to some Aussie 'exotica', maybe a Holden ute or two, that Leyland barge from the 70's and of course one of those cherished XB Falcons.

The rebadged GM powerhouses from Oz that Vauxhall market in the UK whets the appetite for a bit of American inspired beef (RIP Pontiac by the way). That Monaro was a bit of a guilty pleasure and the sheer grunt of a Vauxhall VXR8 is what makes it that bit more exciting than an M5 .... did I just say that?

Time to consider my drive down under as well of course, though I have been looking at ebay.com.au for a few months now, just to get an idea you understand. Mrs B. insists she's getting herself a new Focus but it's got to be old timer for me and given I'm not one for too much change (moving the other side of the world is enough for now methinks), the old MB W123 CE still holds dear. That or an original Saab 900, convertible please.

last cars to go on

Here's a little film of the last cars to go on and an explanation as to what I am trying to achieve with this piece.

CarProject2

The installation looks at all our relationships with the automobile, from the good to the bad. It is a celebration of everything the car has brought us from the freedom of the open road to the beauty in design but also asks us to consider the impact automobiles have had from the frustration of congestion to, depending on your standpoint, the wars fought over oil and lives lost to bring us the freedom to get from A to B in the easiest and most comfortable manner.

The piece consists of 1500+ diecast models of varying vintage collected over the past year and added to my childhood collection, one acrylic globe of 1.40m diameter, one 45 gallon oil drum and ten litres of used oil.

The oil drains then drips over the course of the day 'into' the drum, forming a pond on one end which drops into a hidden compartment to be taken out and refilled at the beginning of each day.

I hope for the piece to conjure up all sorts of images and interpretations as well as engender plenty of reminiscing as viewers point out toys they once played with or cars they or their fathers owned

Getting there.....

So now you can see the piece in full....well nearly. A square of sand at the base and ten litres of oil to flow from the base of the globe into a pond formed on the drum and it's ready to show.

frustrations

It's countdown time and I have an installation that needs hanging ...somewhere. Countdown refers to our impending departure down under. The new wife insists on going home after six years in the smoke and though reticent, I can see the advantages.

It's the globe of cars and oil drum, namely 'CarProject2', the installation I've finally finished which I need to show somewhere before I go.

Hopefully a gallery or other suitable space will give it the public outing I think it deserves.

Just hope it happens before December 7th.