Unveiled in April 2015 ‘Trans-Am Totem’ was a public art installation in Vancouver, B.C., at the intersection of Quebec St and Milross Ave east of the downtown core. Produced by sculptor Marcus Bowcott, the ‘Trans-Am Totem’ featured cars stacked atop a tree trunk.
Standing 10m tall, the sculpture weighed 11,340 kg and featured a 1981 Pontiac Trans Am, a 1995 BMW 728i, a 1992 Honda Civic sedan, a 1990 VW Golf Mk1 Cabriolet, and a shortened Mercedes-Benz 190E with the front grille off a VW Golf Mk3. A local junkyard donated the cars minus their engines and transmissions. Headlights and taillights remained operational thanks to a nifty solar-powered electrical system. The wooden base is the stump of an old-growth cedar tree, cut in half along the lenth to insert a steel column.
Bowcott’s sculpture was designed for the 2014 Vancouver Biennale, but construction started two years earlier. The ‘Trans-Am Totem’ was called a sculptural response to the urban site, and the artist refered to it as a celebration of mobility and technology, as well as a a critique of throwaway consumer culture.
The original plan was for the sculpture to be displayed for two years, but that deadline for the public art was extended several times. It was dismantled finally in August 2021, bought by Vancouver billionaire Chip Wilson and donated back to the city.
The city of Vancouver attempted to relocate it to the Granville Street Bridge, but local killjoys protested. It has since been fully refurbished (including repainting the cars) while in storage, but a new location for the public art is still in the works.
Very cool art installation 🙂 There will always be critics sadly.
Agreed… but there really should be a place for such an installation. Car dealership, race track, highway cloverleaf… something.
Love this!
Back in the day, I had an ’81 Turbo Trans Am, black with the gold eagle hood!
Sounds like you had a wicked car! The firey eagle is a must!
P.S. was it a Turbocharged V8 or V6?
Cool Totem. They used to tote ’em now they’re a Totem.
Ha! And for the record, the politically correct police forced a name change on this automotive art. Its now called “Trans Am Rapture”.
But that title has Christian overtones under the hood. How can they get away with that? A born-again Trans Am raptured up to Heaven on the backs of heathen Bavarian, German, and Japanese cars? The way I see it there is othing politically correct about that title.