For Tyler Shields Blowing Up A Rolls Royce Is Just Another Day At The Office

Tyler Shields, the artist who made waves when his provocative Birkin Bag meets chainsaw project outraged fashionistas everywhere, is back at it, this time pulling at the heartstrings of luxury car lovers.

The Silver Shadow starts by showing an attractive and wealthy looking man carry a gas can across the desert to a beautiful lady standing next to an even more beautiful Rolls Royce. The shot gives the impression that the man is returning to rescue the lady by filling the swank ride up with a little gasoline, which it has appeared to perhaps run out of. But, then, no. He drops the gas can and the next thing you know the pretty lady is pouring the gasoline all over the exceptionally pretty car while the attractive guy pensively watches from the sidelines.

The beautiful slow motion cinematography and clever background music reveal the rare automobile will soon be meeting its demise and somehow you don’t even care the world is about lose the vehicular gem. In fact, the film has you chomping at the bit for an explosion. A level of overly-eager-excitement that I suspect will make most auto enthusiasts weak to the stomach. Then it happens. The scene switches to a shot of the couple running away really fast in slow motion and you just know what’s coming next…

But, you’ll have to take a look at clip for yourself to get the entire artful experience, then stay tuned for a behind the scenes look including a glimpse at the sweet RED Dragon camera that RED supplied Shields with for the project.

Behind The Scenes

Spoiler Alert: It wasn’t CGI.

“Well, I got the Rolls Royce maybe 9 months ago and then everyone wanted me to keep it. I always knew I was going to blow it up, but people started to like to ride in it, it became a loved item around the house. It was a good car, but it’s had it’s time.”

That’s right, the Rolls really does get blown up. To that end, Shields called on the help of experts to ensure the safety of the actors, crew, and himself, while enlisting trained professionals to handle the explosion. In other words, don’t try this at home unless you are a professional trained in blowing stuff up. Instead, check out Shields’ blog where he shares a lot more great photographs from the project and details other aspects of the experience. Or, if you’re going to be around London starting in late October, you can swing by the Imitate Gallery, where photos from the project will be on exhibition.

[ Tyler Shields via ISO1200 ]