{"id":550093,"date":"2026-03-19T07:34:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:34:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550093\/"},"modified":"2026-03-19T07:34:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T07:34:20","slug":"hajime-sorayama-and-matt-copson-turn-afeela-car-into-artworks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/550093\/","title":{"rendered":"hajime sorayama and matt copson turn AFEELA car into artworks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>AFEELA 1 art cars by hajime sorayama and matt copson<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/sony\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Sony<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/honda\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Honda<\/a> Mobility taps <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/hajime-sorayama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Hajime Sorayama<\/a> and Matt Copson to turn its <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/electric-automobiles\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">electric<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.designboom.com\/tag\/car-design\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">car<\/a> AFEELA 1 into art vehicles. Each version of the car carries the work of the respective artist across its exterior, wheels, and interior screens, and these aren\u2019t production models as they\u2019re positioned as art objects. The company brought the Matt Copson\u2019s car to Frieze Los Angeles in February 2026 and is set to host a second installation in Tokyo for Hajime Sorayama\u2019s AFEELA 1 electric art vehicle starting March 14th, 2026.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Tokyo installation shows the Japanese artist practice, whose career spans five decades of hyper-realistic illustration of robotic and mechanical forms. Hajime Sorayama\u2019s recognized work is the visual design of AIBO, Sony\u2019s consumer robot dog, which was first released in 1999. His method is built around surface, or the way light hits chrome and reflection creates the illusion of volume. His vehicle, named AFEELA Prototype Tuned Up by Hajime Sorayama, is built around the three themes of the artist\u2019s retrospective exhibition: light, transparency, and reflection. All of these refer back to his decades-long artistic practice.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182246 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"hajime sorayama AFEELA car\" width=\"818\" height=\"746\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-02..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>all images courtesy of Sony Honda Mobility<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>retroreflective lights and moir\u00e9 effect as designs<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For the AFEELA 1 electric car, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hajimesorayamaofficial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">artist<\/a> Hajime Sorayama adds the moir\u00e9 effect on the wheels, a pattern that appears when two regular grid structures overlap at a slight angle, producing a third pattern that moves as the viewer moves. On a wheel, then, the effect changes with every turn. The pattern is not printed but engineered into the surface geometry, allowing the tire to look differently depending on the angle of the light and the speed of the car. The exhibition opens at CREATIVE MUSEUM TOKYO on March 14th, 2026, on the sixth floor of the Toda Building in Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, and runs through May 31st.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Before Hajime Sorayama\u2019s AFEELA 1 electric art car, Sony Honda <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shm-afeela.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Mobility<\/a> has already tapped <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mattcopson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">artist<\/a> and director Matt Copson for a previous iteration. Given his practice on light and motion across film and installation, he turned the surface of the electric vehicle into a canvas with retroreflective lights, the ones used on emergency vehicles and road signage, across the exterior of the car, creating illuminated splash patterns all over the surface. The artist\u2019s work also extended the work into the car\u2019s interior, as he put his own twist into the AFEELA 1 Media Bar, which runs across the dashboard, and the Panoramic Screen. Matt Copson\u2019s AFEELA 1 electric art car appeared during the Frieze Los Angeles installation, which ran from February 26th to March 1st at Santa Monica Airport. The same model is set to appear at Frieze New York, running from May 13th to 17 that The Shed in Manhattan.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182245 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"hajime sorayama AFEELA car\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-01..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>view of Hajime Sorayama\u2019s AFEELA 1 electric art car<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182249 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"hajime sorayama AFEELA car\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-05..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>view of Matt Copson\u2019s AFEELA 1 electric art car<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182248 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"hajime sorayama AFEELA car\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-04..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>Matt Copson\u2019s model appeared during the Frieze Los Angeles installation<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182247 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"view of the AFEELA 1 electric car\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-03..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>view of the AFEELA 1 electric car<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182250 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"each version of the car carries the work of the respective artist\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-06..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>each version of the car carries the work of the respective artist<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1182251 size-full lazyload\" bad-src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"rear view of the production model\" width=\"818\" height=\"460\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/retroreflective-lights-moire-pattern-AFEELA-art-cars-hajime-sorayama-matt-copson-sony-designboom-07..jpeg\"  data- loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>rear view of the production model<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>project info:<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>car model: AFEELA 1\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>artists: Hajime Sorayama, Matt Copson | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hajimesorayamaofficial\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">@hajimesorayamaofficial<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mattcopson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">@mattcopson<\/a><\/p>\n<p>company: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shm-afeela.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Sony Honda Mobility<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/shmafeela\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">@shmafeela<\/a><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AFEELA 1 art cars by hajime sorayama and matt copson \u00a0 Sony Honda Mobility taps Hajime Sorayama and&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550094,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[449,458,459,64,63,56356,460,272158,134,272159,914,9482],"class_list":["post-550093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-car-design","tag-design","tag-electric-automobiles","tag-entertainment","tag-hajime-sorayama","tag-honda","tag-sony"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}