Twinkle Twinkle Little Car, How I wonder what you are?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Car, a 1992 Honda Civic transformed by about 200 pounds of CDs, almost exclusive software CDs, nearly 400 fluid ounces of 100% silicone and months of one artist's fantastic visions, is a rolling wonder that elevates recycling to the domain of fine art.

From the moment she had the idea, artist Nicole Goldman saw Twinkle in her mind's eye and drove herself to create this masterpiece. Preparations began on Twinkle in the first month of 2001 (the "real" millennium), and three months later, she rolled onto the streets of Houston a new car.

Going from a red Honda Civic to a car one has to see up close to believe was no easy journey. Nicole and her husband, David, spent the first two months cutting up CDs into pieces. This process involved a word burning pen, two high grade respirators that filter asbestos and noxious gas, special gloves and even nausea and disorientation (note this is what lead to the high grade respirators).

Once cut, the CD pieces were sorted by color and stored in plastic bins all over Nicole's garage. Gluing finally began in March and took 4 weeks to complete. The CDs pieces are layered over a pattern of complete CDs creating a rainbow of color that flows over the car. On a sunny day, you are literally blinded by the light that emanates from this mighty little vehicle.

Nicole learned many things while creating Twinkle. Simple facts like CDs are in fact recyclable but only in very large quantities (i.e. crate loads that are shipped to China) and software CDs are discarded in respectable quantities due to obsolescence and/or misprinting ...
More importantly, she learned that burning CD plastic is deadly, that CD pieces are sharp and can cut skin, and that 200+ CDs weigh a lot more than you might think!

Nicole also learned just how supportive and helpful her family can be as she pursued this artistic vision. Nicole's mom loaded her trunk with boxes of CD business cards and drove them from Dallas to Houston, while hubby David spent hours handling CD pieces, some of this time being pale white, clammy and a bit faint...
Nicole's mom also came up with the name for the car...

To learn more about how Twinkle was made, see "The Birth of an Art Car"

To read about Twinkle's debut, see "Twinkle's First Party"

Send email to Twinkle at twinkle@chefdave.com

Unless otherwise noted, all images are copyrighted by the artists and/or
by Pineapple Publishing and Consulting
Art Cars in Cyberspace ©2004 Pineapple Publishing and Consulting
Contact us at artcars@artcars.com

Last update April 1, 2004