Porsche’s true colours

Three contemporary artists and one contemporary car have united to produce a one-of-a-kind series of multimedia photographs in an NFT auction to raise money for the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. An NFT is a digital asset that marks ownership of products that reside online, such as art or music. NFTs are purchased to assign ownership of digital creations to the buyer, giving them unique and exclusive ownership of the artwork which can be used as a physical or digital print. To celebrate its first fully electric and most digitally advanced sportscar, Porsche has commissioned a bespoke Australian artwork livery by contemporary artist Nigel Sense. Taycan was the vehicle of choice, as it represents the beginning of a new era in car design. The choice is appropriate as a canvas featuring a fantastical transition space filled with traveller’s tales, a vastness punctuated by movement that accesses the masks of common humanity. The drama and movement is captured in three distinct photographs, highlighting contrast while finding common ground with the Taycan in the environmentally conscious architecture. Sense’s artwork was transformed into the vehicle livery on a new Porsche Taycan, before being photographed to create three unique digital artworks in the form of multimedia photographs. Local neo-expressionist and social expressionist artist Nigel Sense’s pieces are popular among Porsche owners. ‘My work is maps and painted lines that lead to the unknown, with symbols and imagery that I’ve corrected on the way,’ says Nigel. ‘It’s the emotional feeling of movement going from one place to another, that excitement to see what’s over the horizon. The beauty of living a life well-lived.’ Forming part of the celebrations of 70 Years of Porsche in Australia, this collaboration represents the first digital artwork project based on the blockchain technology Ethereum for Porsche in Australia.

An integral part of transforming Sense’s artwork for the Taycan into the realm of NFTs is attributed to photographer Derek Swalwell, whose name is synonymous with the photographic representation of the architectural landscape in Australia and beyond. The location chosen for the three multimedia photographs highlights the commonality with the Taycan in the environmentally conscious architecture. As an extension of the artwork, the NFTs will be accompanied by sounds that connect to the Taycan’s colours and vibrancy. A piece of original music was composed by Gene Shill, who Porsche Cars Australia had already partnered with successfully for the earlier launch of the Taycan. Shill, who is synonymous with creating music from car engine sounds, crafted all harmonic and rhythmic textures of the music from a single Taycan power unit sound. The project was developed together with the Berlin-based startup Fanzone, which the company builder Forward31 – a business unit of Porsche Digital GmbH – founded in June 2021. The young company operates the online platform Fanzone.io on which fans can collect and exchange digital trading cards of different sports IP partners as NFTs while profiting from their increase in value. •