Rowan van As
TAXI (2019 - ongoing)
Inspired by the classic New York taxi, Rowan built his own cargo cult-style version out of steel and aluminum basing his process on hundreds of instructional videos on YouTube. The artwork is a replica of the model in operation from the 1960s to the 1990s in New York. Using a small petrol engine, the taxi replica can drive up to 20 km/h.
Although Rowan van As has never been to New York himself, he plans to one day travel to the city using his taxi replica. The taxi represents a spaceship, with which he comes to earth with curiosity and goes in search of adventure, uncertain of its outcome. He plans to create a film depicting his travels to New York with the taxi, inspired by film classics such as Space is the place, Taxi Driver and Night on Earth.
Rowan van As (1991, Netherlands) currently focuses on his artwork Taxi, in which driving through the streets of Rotterdam becomes an adventure to experience things, search for imagination and find poetry in everyday life with music and day-to-day environments. Prior to that, he was funded by the Mondriaan funds as well as being active for years in art and performances within Rotterdam’s art scene and beyond.
Although Rowan van As has never been to New York himself, he plans to one day travel to the city using his taxi replica. The taxi represents a spaceship, with which he comes to earth with curiosity and goes in search of adventure, uncertain of its outcome. He plans to create a film depicting his travels to New York with the taxi, inspired by film classics such as Space is the place, Taxi Driver and Night on Earth.
Rowan van As (1991, Netherlands) currently focuses on his artwork Taxi, in which driving through the streets of Rotterdam becomes an adventure to experience things, search for imagination and find poetry in everyday life with music and day-to-day environments. Prior to that, he was funded by the Mondriaan funds as well as being active for years in art and performances within Rotterdam’s art scene and beyond.