# MSCHF's Radical Lexus Transformations Challenge Automotive Design Norms Art collective distorts luxury vehicles into abstract sculptures for NYC exhibit - **Source:** [Core77](https://brifing.si/source/f6ad2371-dd12-4b4f-8976-2d2533729d9b) - **Topic:** [Design & UX](https://brifing.si/c/design) - **Original article:** - **On Brifing:** https://brifing.si/s/5ca372b2-5dd2-41a7-a56c-9d5b21291cf8 ## Radical automotive sculptures MSCHF has transformed two Lexus vehicles - the RX 450h+ Plug-in Hybrid and All-Electric RZ 450e - into abstract sculptures called Twisted Car and Circle Car. The art collective applies digital-native design principles to physical objects, stretching the cars into impossible shapes while maintaining their core identities. The altered versions will be displayed alongside their unmodified counterparts at the Armory Week art fair in NYC, creating a direct visual comparison between functional vehicles and their artistic interpretations. ## Digital concepts made physical The project continues MSCHF's signature approach of translating digital-native operations into tangible forms. The sculptures mimic animation smear frames where objects distort beyond realistic boundaries to imply motion. By applying this digital concept to luxury automobiles, MSCHF challenges our perception of cars as purely functional objects. The exhibit highlights how transformation can make familiar objects strange, forcing viewers to reconsider the design decisions that normally go unnoticed in everyday consumer products. ## Blurring art and utility Motomorphosis intentionally obscures the line between sculptural form and consumer luxury. The modified Lexus vehicles retain enough of their original features to be recognizable, yet their exaggerated distortions create entirely new aesthetic experiences. This approach reflects MSCHF's philosophy of using the material world as raw material for artistic sampling and recombination. The exhibit questions why certain forms are considered functional while others are deemed purely artistic in automotive design. ## Exhibition details The Motomorphosis exhibit will be displayed at the Chelsea Industrial event space during NYC's Armory Week from September 24th to 26th. The installation features both the modified vehicles (Twisted Car and Circle Car) alongside their original, unaltered versions. This side-by-side presentation allows visitors to directly compare the factory designs with MSCHF's radical reinterpretations. The temporary nature of the three-day exhibition adds to the project's conceptual weight as a commentary on the impermanence of design norms. ## Conceptual approach MSCHF's work deliberately defamiliarizes everyday objects to make viewers reconsider their assumptions. The car sculptures capture motion in static form, representing how we mentally visualize movement rather than physical reality. This approach mirrors digital animation techniques where objects distort to create fluid motion perception. By applying these principles to luxury vehicles, MSCHF highlights how design conventions shape our experience of functional objects. ## Material transformation The project demonstrates MSCHF's signature technique of radical material transformation. Using actual Lexus vehicles as their medium, the collective pushes automotive design beyond practical constraints into pure artistic expression. The physical stretching and twisting of the cars creates forms that would be impossible in functional vehicles, yet remain immediately recognizable as automotive designs. This tension between recognition and abstraction is central to the exhibit's impact. ## Consumer perception Motomorphosis forces viewers to confront their subconscious expectations about automotive design. By presenting radically modified versions of luxury vehicles, MSCHF makes visible the countless small design decisions that normally go unnoticed in consumer products. The exhibit suggests that only through such extreme transformations do we become aware of the design language that shapes our daily interactions with objects. This approach reveals how familiarity blinds us to the artistry in functional design. ## Design philosophy The project represents a significant intersection of automotive design and contemporary art practice. MSCHF's work challenges the automotive industry's conventional boundaries between form and function. By treating luxury vehicles as artistic raw material rather than finished consumer products, the collective opens new possibilities for how we might reimagine transportation design. The exhibit suggests that radical transformations can reveal hidden potentials in even the most familiar objects. ## Sources covering this story - https://www.core77.com/posts/145458/Motomorphosis-MSCHFs-Radically-Modified-Lexuses — --- _Summary written by Brifing from the original reporting. Copyright in the original article belongs to its publisher; read the full piece at the link above._