Luxury car, scrap metal, or work of art?

We received a email a few months ago – a request that you probably don’t expect every day. It didn’t take much thinking before we agreed wholeheartedly to support the young Cologne artist’s project.

Bastian Hoffmann is a German artist who creates sculptures and videos. He uses common materials such as stone, wood, water, and metal to create works that challenge our expectations in a playful and minimalist way. Hoffmann studied at the Cologne Academy of Media Arts and the Arts Academy of Düsseldorf. His works have already been featured in solo and group exhibitions from Germany and Austria to the USA.

For this current project "How to turn a Porsche into a painting", Bastian had a bold vision. He wanted to turn a luxury car into a painting, while recording the whole process to make a DIY tutorial so that viewers can do it themselves. But how was he going to break down the car into the pieces he needed for his project? Why, with the support of the powerful TITAN 950 from ARJES, of course! Using our product, the Porsche was to be shredded so that its pieces can then be used as raw materials for his painting.

Realizing this vision was not an easy task, as the extremely wide SUV almost didn’t fit even into our shredder’s large hopper. But Bastian Hoffmann and his film team were determined, and were excited to get in on the action at the ARJES test site. The machine was started and the noise of the 550PS shredder was deafening. Then, slowly but surely, the Porsche was torn into smaller and smaller parts by the two opposite-turning shredding shafts. After the TITAN 950 was done with its work, 2 tons of just metal, rubber and plastic remained. The body, the frame, the engine, the transmission, the tires, the suspensions and many other components were all piled into a shredded scrap heap.

It was an impressive sight for Bastian Hoffmann and his team. Once a symbol of luxury and status, the Porsche Cayenne had now been reduced to a mountain of junk. But this scrap isn’t just waste. Bastian Hoffmann will use it to create the colors for a large-format painting, telling the story of the Cayenne in a totally unique way.

His work will soon be available on his website (www.bastian-hoffmann.com) and his Instagram (_bastianhoffmann). In addition, exhibitions are already being planned, which will also be announced through the channels mentioned.

It was a great pleasure for us to work with and support this emerging artist in realizing his extraordinary vision. We are excited to see the final result of "How to turn a Porsche into a painting", and are certain that, with our TITAN 950, we have had the opportunity to participate in the creation of a true masterpiece.