Background
Harrod Blank was born on February 4, 1963, in Westminster, California, and he grew up in the Bonny Doon Mountains. Harrod is a son of a filmmaker, Leslie Harrod Jr., and a ceramic artist, Gail Blank.
2011
Harrod Blank
2015
Harrod Blank
2015
450 East 8th Street, Douglas, AZ 85607, United States
Harrod Blank is in the "Art Car World" museum.
2016
202 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704, United States
Harrod Blank at the Southwest Festival Music Festival at Topfer Theatre on March 16, 2015.
2016
450 East 8th Street, Douglas, AZ 85607, United States
Harrod Blank is in the "Art Car World" museum.
1111 Franklin St, Oakland, CA 94607, United States
Harrod Blank studied at the University of California. He got a Bachelor of Arts.
Harrod Blank
Harrod Blank with his art car "The Camera Van."
Harrod Blank with his art car "Oh My God!"
Harrod Blank with his art car "Pico De Gallo."
Harrod Blank
Leslie Harrod Jr. and Harrod Blank.
Harrod Blank
(Art Cars represent a vital and ever-growing folk art form...)
Art Cars represent a vital and ever-growing folk art form. Forty-two of these magnificent sculptures-on-wheels are featured in 127 photographs, complete with an essay about each artist.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/093362168X/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i2
1993
(This offbeat guide is packed with photographs of unbeliev...)
This offbeat guide is packed with photographs of unbelievable vehicles - like an auto that has a working waterfall.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1579903304/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i0
2002
(This brand new 2nd edition of "Art Cars," features 43 add...)
This brand new 2nd edition of "Art Cars," features 43 additional photos, a completely new chapter of 16 pages, and the "Camera Van" on the cover.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0933621922/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_taft_p1_i1
2007
(It is Harrod Blank's University of California Santa Cruz ...)
It is Harrod Blank's University of California Santa Cruz senior thesis film.
https://www.amazon.com/Land-Owl-Turds-Harrod-Blank/dp/B073ZWXZK6/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank+In+The+Land+of+the+Owl+Turds&qid=1588666865&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
1987
(Harrod Blank's comic and revealing exploration of Art Car...)
Harrod Blank's comic and revealing exploration of Art Cars - customized automobiles which reflect the individualistic spirit of their drivers. Traveling across the country in his own wildly decorated VW Bug called "Oh My God!," the filmmaker discovers a memorable cast of real-life characters obsessed with transforming their cars into mobile works of art.
https://www.amazon.com/Wild-Wheels-Directors-Larry-Fuente/dp/B073WM3Z4Y/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank+Wild+Wheels&qid=1588667143&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
1992
(Harrod Blank is back with an in-depth look at the persona...)
Harrod Blank is back with an in-depth look at the personalities behind these multi-wheeled works of art. This time he focuses on Gene Pool's "Grass Bus," Harry Sperl's "Hamburger Harley," Hyler Bracey's "Bighorn" and his own two vehicles, "Oh My God!" and the one of a kind "Camera Van."
https://www.amazon.com/Driving-Dream-Harrod-Blank/dp/B074GM4TMT/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank+Driving+the+Dream&qid=1588667221&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
1998
("Automorphosis" explores the minds and hearts of an inspi...)
"Automorphosis" explores the minds and hearts of an inspiring collection of eccentrics, visionaries, and just plain folks who have transformed their autos into artworks. On a humorous and touching journey, we discover what drives the creative process for these unconventional characters. We learn that an art car has the power to change us, to alter our view of our increasingly homogeneous world.
https://www.amazon.com/Automorphosis-Leonard-Knight/dp/B0741Q4VDR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank&qid=1588666733&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
2009
(Every year in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mardis Gras Ind...)
Every year in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mardis Gras Indian tribes gather on the Sunday to St. Joseph's Day to celebrate their pride and joy.
https://www.amazon.com/Warriors-Joy-David-Montana/dp/B079VN4Q1C/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank+Warriors+of+Joy&qid=1588667382&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
2014
(Mauro Salcido Rodriguez performs "Amar Y Vivir" in Agua P...)
Mauro Salcido Rodriguez performs "Amar Y Vivir" in Agua Prieta Mexico where he lived. This music video produced and directed by Harrod Blank was filmed in 2005-6 but wasn't edited until 2014 by Benjamin Abrams. This short was made as a tribute to both Harrod's father Les Blank and Mauro who both passed away in 2013. David Silberberg recorded the audio with Hunter Mann.
https://www.amazon.com/Mauro-Love-Live-Salcido-Rodriguez/dp/B0787M4NNR/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=Harrod+Blank+Mauro%3A+To+Love+And+To+Live&qid=1588667499&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1
2014
artist filmmaker Photographer writer
Harrod Blank was born on February 4, 1963, in Westminster, California, and he grew up in the Bonny Doon Mountains. Harrod is a son of a filmmaker, Leslie Harrod Jr., and a ceramic artist, Gail Blank.
Harrod Blank studied at the University of California. He got there a Bachelor of Arts in 1987.
Harrod Blank has parlayed his love of "art cars" into a career as a filmmaker and author. It all began when Blank moved from a commune to downtown Santa Cruz, California when he was seventeen. While other teenagers turned to colored hair and body piercings to express themselves, Blank took a 1965 Volkswagen Beetle and began spray painting it in fluorescent colors. He added a spinning globe to the hood and then planted a television with a skull inside on the roof. More weird and exotic additions soon followed, like plastic baby dolls, which Blank attached as a statement on overpopulation.
Several years later, after attending college, Harrod Blank set out on a two-year cross-country trip to film a 64-minute documentary called "Wild Wheels." Over 55 million people worldwide have seen the film. Harrod initially distributed "Wild Wheels" by appearing with his first art car, "Oh My God!" as he toured 50 cities across the United States. Publicity from the tour attracted the interest of Public Broadcasting Service, which then broadcast the film as a National Special in 1993. This film ultimately resulted in a companion book.
Harrod Blank's first book "Wild Wheels" includes 100 photographs and descriptions of forty-two art-car aficionados who decorate their cars not only for the attention but as a personal statement of their beliefs, which are often stranger than fiction. The book "Wild Wheels" was named "Best Book for Young Adults" by the American Library Association.
In his second book, "Art Cars: The Cars, the Artists, the Obsession, the Craft" Harrod Blank presents more than 100 new art-car creations, including the Skull Truck, the Cork Car, a car with a working waterfall, and the "Stinkbug!" covered with old cigarette butts. The book also includes an introduction that places the art-car movement within the context of other types of folk art and testimonials by various art-car creators as to why they create art cars and how they achieve their visions.
One of Harrod Blank's projects developed after he had a dream that he drove around the country in a car covered in cameras to chronicle the people's reaction. Harrod looked for thrift shops for old cameras, and he asked friends and relatives for their obsolete cameras. Then he took a 1972 Dodge van and covered it with more than 1,000 cameras. Hidden among the old broken-down cameras were motorized models that worked via a remote control device installed near the driver's seat. That art car was called "The Camera Van." As a result, when people came up to the van to gawk at it, Harrod was able to capture their reactions. The result was more than 5,000 photographs, which Blank planned to develop into a book titled "I've Got a Vision."
The third Harrod Blank's art car, "Pico De Gallo," was equipped with a stereo system, rooftop stage, drums, keyboards, two electric guitars, an accordion, and numerous other noise-making devices.
In 1995, Harrod Blank began production of a feature-length sequel to "Wild Wheels." A short version of the film "Driving the Dream," was broadcast on Turner Broadcasting System in October 1997. It helped Harrod to raise money for his film, "Automorphosis" which was completed in 2009.
In 2019 Harrod Blank released the film "Why Can't I Be Me? Around You." He is also working on a multi-year film project on "Burning Man," the radical arts festival that takes place in the Nevada desert every year.
In 1994, Harrod formed "Art Car Camp," inviting other art car enthusiasts to the event.
Harrod Blank, with Philo Northrup, founded the "Art Car Fest" in 1997. Besides, Harrod built an Art Car museum, and an artist's residence called "Art Car World." Since 2013, he has been the president of "Les Blank Films," and he has remastered and released Les Blank's films, "A Poem Is A Naked Person," "Chulas Fronteras" and "Del Mero Corazon."
(This brand new 2nd edition of "Art Cars," features 43 add...)
2007(This offbeat guide is packed with photographs of unbeliev...)
2002(Art Cars represent a vital and ever-growing folk art form...)
1993("Automorphosis" explores the minds and hearts of an inspi...)
2009(Harrod Blank's comic and revealing exploration of Art Car...)
1992(Harrod Blank is back with an in-depth look at the persona...)
1998(Every year in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Mardis Gras Ind...)
2014(Mauro Salcido Rodriguez performs "Amar Y Vivir" in Agua P...)
2014(It is Harrod Blank's University of California Santa Cruz ...)
1987When Harrod Blank told Dan McKinney about his cars in the interview, Harrod said: "I put these religious icons on the car, not because I'm religious, but because they're praying for the fate of man and they light up at night, light up all the flowers."
In the interview with Dan McKinney, Harrod Blank said: "I wanted my car to say something about me and my values, that I wasn't like everybody else. As I changed and developed, the car changed and the values of the car changed."
Quotations:
"You are what you drive, to an extent. I think people are crazy to brand themselves with Dodge, Toyota, Mitsubishi. I don't understand it - to buy into and embrace the branding of America by these corporate automakers is insane."
"Be creative and express yourself."
"Keep dreaming and then do it."