MSCHF is known for creating things out of the ordinary that defy logic. The Hot Wheels collaboration and Mercedes-AMG furniture collection are prime examples. Now the Brooklyn-based art collective is at it again with an illusory Lexus collaboration that turns their latest production cars into something that looks like a video glitch.
The project dubbed MOTOMORPHOSIS is a part of New York’s Armory Week art show, and Lexus’ boilerplate text in the press release is as mind-bending as the creation. As they say it, the vehicles showcased are special modifications with non-Lexus parts that may void warranty, negatively impact safety, and not be street legal.”
The two works start with a Lexus RZ 450e and an RX 450h+, but little remains conventional about their final forms. The RZ becomes Circle Car, with its entire body bent into a continuous loop so that the nose meets the rear. The result looks as though a car has been caught driving in a circle and had its motion permanently baked into its shape. The RX, meanwhile, becomes Twisted Car, with its body pulled into a dramatic longitudinal spiral that stretches its windows, panels, and familiar design details along the twist.
MSCHF refers to these creations as “Form Cars,” deliberately positioning them against the familiar concept car. Rather than imagining a future vehicle with new technology or a different way of moving, the collective treats the automobile itself as a material to manipulate. The inspiration comes partly from digital 3D modeling, where operations such as bending, stretching, and twisting can turn a recognizable object into an impossible one. It also draws from animation’s “smear frames,” where forms are temporarily distorted to communicate speed and movement. Here, that fleeting distortion becomes physical.
Creating something that looks digitally warped still required very real fabrication. MSCHF began with steel armatures before assembling thousands of individual pieces to create the outer skin. The finishing, paint and protective coating follow processes familiar to automotive body shops, despite the radically unconventional shapes. Some components of the sculptures are genuine Lexus parts, but MSCHF is clear that neither piece is a functioning vehicle.
That distinction is important because MOTOMORPHOSIS is all about redesigning the car’s form in a twisted universe. The unmodified RZ 450e and RX 450h+ are displayed alongside their distorted counterparts, making the transformation easier to understand. Familiar proportions, lights, glass, and body surfaces remain recognizable even after being pushed into physically impossible arrangements.
MOTOMORPHOSIS opens at Chelsea Industrial in New York from September 24 to 26, with public hours on September 25 and 26. Admission is free with an RSVP, giving visitors a chance to see what happens when the rigid geometry of a production automobile is treated more like digital clay than transportation.
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