Crushed 1992 Dodge Spirit was inspiration behind Forgiato’s burnt SEMA Maybach

This is the strange yet perfect inspiration behind arguably SEMA 2018’s most talked about “build” Forgiato’s burnt Maybach.

Earlier last week I blogged about one of the most interesting SEMA “builds” I’ve come across in the handful of years I’ve been following the aftermarket specialist trade show, the burnt Maybach from Forgiato. According to the mastermind behind this Maybach, Gary Tegeleci @GaryForgiato earlier yesterday off of his Instagram (Nov.5, 20188), on what’s being hailed as an “incredible display of marketing” the inspiration behind this display is from an art piece displayed at Art Basel Miami three years ago featuring a lowly 1992 Dodge Spirit. This isn’t just any ordinary Dodge Spirit, this one was crushed to bits thanks to a nine-ton boulder being purposely dropped on it. Here’s that art installation below and @GaryForgiato’s story on Instagram.

Entitled “Still Life with Spirit and Xitle, this nine (…no ten, counting the Dodge) ton art installation shows a bog-standard 1992 Dodge Spirit being crushed by a nine-ton red-basalt boulder from the Volcano in Mexico City where it gets its namesake, Xitle in Mexico City. On the boulder is a cheeky looking spraypainted graffiti in what’s described as a smug look. The artwork is exactly what it looks like, the destructive force of nature meets machine. You can read into it as much as you like as this particular art piece is meant to spark conversation and debate in a not-so-subtle art medium.

Crushed it’s Monday? Jimmie Durham’s “Still Life with Spirit and Xitle” gets it. About the piece outside @hirshhorn: https://t.co/paimHMws2r pic.twitter.com/RXw86KHmGn

— Smithsonian (@smithsonian) April 17, 2017

As you can imagine, this art piece generated a lot of buzz when it was made in 2007 and subsequently when it was curated and displayed at Art Basel Miami eight years later.

Since Forgiato’s burned Maybach hit SEMA, I can count at least half a dozen articles written about it (including yours truly) one Reddit thread (again, started by yours truly), dozens of photos tagged on Instagram and one set of photos on Facebook that REALLY took off with 2000 plus shares (which is were I found out about this build.)

My earlier blog post lambasted this “build” for being nothing more than an “attention *hore” of sorts and I still stand behind those words. But in light of this recent art inspiration as its source, I have to give props where props are due, the burnt Maybach did its job, showcasing the company behind the art, gleaning inspiration from another seemingly successful art piece.