"This automobile we carry in a small valise. We blow it up. It is inflatable with helium. There is a double wall; inside is helium. There is also a mechanism to make it rotate on an axis. This axis contains the little motor and also the place to sit down. So, we inflate our car which is a double spherical wall and being soft there are no traffic accidents. It is as if you were inside a proto plasm, in a living cell. We can also graduate its elasticity and deflate it when it is not in use. The precursor to this car is the Dalinian Velocipede which was patented as long ago as 1950 and which is sort of a rigid plastic. But plastic breaks; now this is going to be a soft, double-walled ester, with the wall filled with the lightest element, which is helium gas."
With this piece specifically, Dali addresses both driver safety and the difficulty in finding a parking spot in the city of the future.
‘This automobile we carry in a small valise. We blow it up. It is inflatable with helium. There is a double wall; inside is helium. There is also a mechanism to make it rotate on an axis. This axis contains the little motor and also the place to sit down. So we inflate our car which is a double spherical wall and being soft there are no traffic accidents. It is as if you were inside a protoplasm, in a living cell. We can also graduate its' elasticity and deflate it when it is not in use. The precursor to this car is the Dalínian velocipede which was patented as long ago as 1950 and which is sort of a rigid plastic. But plastic breaks; now this is going to be a soft, double-walled ester, with the wall filled with the lightest element, which is helium gas.’ - Salvador Dali
This work is part of the "Imagination and Objects of the Future" portfolio, which is full of Dalí's fantastical creations of futuristic luxuries and extravagances. The suite of 10 dry point etchings combined with lithography and collage were inspired by his extensive research on a variety of scientific topics, including physics, biology, and arithmetic. These encompass the concept of Dali imagining himself as the 20th century Leonardo da Vinci, giving to the world what he imagined the future would hold.