Unpainted Sculpture, by Charles Ray, is a recreation of a real car that was part of a fatal crash. Every visible part of the car, from the engine to the license plate to the leather seats, was cast and duplicated in fiberglass and then reassembled to create this sculpture (it was also, despite its name, painted gray). The result is a haunting shadow of the original car, frozen in time and missing any stains, dirt, or chipped paint we would expect on a crashed car. Though the car’s pieces are mangled, they are cleanly and evenly colored, putting all of the focus on the shape itself.
I think that 3D casts like this are an interesting form of capture. Though the premise here is very simple, the sculpture is very impactful, especially in person. It’s also not entirely objective. In addition to choosing what car to cast, Ray made some other artistic decisions, like not to cast any of the windows (I’m assuming they didn’t all break away completely, and that he instead omitted them so we could see inside), and what material to use. I think that the smooth gray color makes this look like a figurine that has yet to be painted, like it’s been mass produced exactly like this, which adds to its eerie energy.