Well, they’re not totally naked. But now that we have your attention, we’ll explain. You see, one need not speed much over the posted limit to cause a devastating or deadly crash. Low-level speeding poses great risk as well. In fact, most accidents happen when at least one of the vehicles involved is traveling below the speed limit. And by some accounts, for every three additional three miles-per-hour, the risk of a crash doubles.
But crash statistics don’t exactly make for exciting billboards. So, the Motor Accident Commission of South Australia came up with an eye-catching way to get the point across and encourage an overall reduction in speed.
Enter body artist Emma Hack and 17 scantily-clad friends. Hack stacked the group of participants, all bodybuilders, athletes and acrobats with amazing strength, endurance and flexibility in the shape of a crash-damaged car. Once she had the shape down-pat, Hack applied up to five layers of paint on their bodies. Participants had to remain still in their contorted positions as Hack painted their bodies. Afterward, they each took their assigned positions. Bodybuilders and athletes who had the strength to bear the weight of other participants made up the stacked section in the middle of the car. A team of acrobats with mad flexibility filled out the car’s crumpled front end.
The photo shoot took an exhausting 18 hours. But the result is quite the sight to behold. And the fact that the image is made up of living bodies makes a clear statement.
“Every one of us is a part of the issue and we all have a role to play in reducing our road toll,” said the Motor Accident Commission’s Ben Tuffnell.
If you’re a music fan and/or have a teenager in the house, you may have seen Hack’s work before. She painted Belgian-Australian singer and songwriter Gotye and New Zealand singer and guitarist Kimbra for the video for their song, Somebody that I Used to Know. At the time of this writing, the video had racked up 345,659,943 YouTube views. The song and video gained worldwide popularity, landing nominations at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards and MTV Video Music Awards; being covered on The Voice and American Idol; and – in that mother of all you-know-you’ve-made-it-when moments – got parodied on Saturday Night Live.
Check out our photo gallery and video on the making of Hack’s amazing body art crash and post your thoughts on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook fan page.
