Street art meets Augmented Reality: Artist Nychos paints graffiti for the electric race car ID.R 07.11.2019: • Volkswagen ID.R as a tangible graffiti artwork in Amsterdam with augmented reality metamorphosis

•    Volkswagen ID.R as a tangible graffiti artwork in Amsterdam with augmented reality metamorphosis


•    Street artist Nychos interprets vehicle as a living organism


•    Time lapse video of the creation at the freely accessible artist shipyard NDSM in Amsterdam




In Amsterdam, the Volkswagen ID.R – the electrically powered race car, is currently showing its innermost flair: the renowned street artist Nychos has artistically dissected the record holder, interpreting it as a living organism with organs, skeleton and a blood circulation. During his four-day production in the Netherlands, the spectacular work of art attracted the attention of passers-by and, supported by the ‘Artivive’ app and augmented reality, impressed even in the digital realm as well.




Street artist Nychos interprets ID.R as a living organism


Artworks from Nychos can be admired in many countries around the world and on every continent. The headquarters of his company ‘Rabbit Eye Movement’ is still in Vienna, but mostly the artist spends his time in Los Angeles, where he has found a new home and has opened a second location.




The style of the 37-year-old Austrian was already shaped in his childhood. This is best described by dissection, cross-sectional and x-ray influences. Early on Nychos liked to look behind the façade, which served as the basis for his in-depth understanding of anatomy and his interest in sustainability.



Cartoons were his source of inspiration: “Originally, I wanted to illustrate cartoons, but then I turned to graffiti art, because I like the quick work with a spray-can better and I find it easier to develop myself on the wall.” The speed of his work is also visible on the NDSM shipyard site: in less than four days, the approximately 150-square-metre meter work of art was created.




#challengeacceptID: the ID.R as analogue and digital street artwork in Amsterdam


Just as ID.R racer Romain Dumas (F) had to face several challenges with the ID.R, it was also an extraordinary task for Nychos to dissect a car in this way. The electric race car was reinterpreted by Nychos as a living organism, for example, a heart instead of the battery pack, two brains instead of the two altogether 500 kW (680 PS) engines and ribs instead of the roll cage.



A time-lapse video of the work is available on the web at    bit.ly/IDRxNychos



With the aid of the free ‘Artivive’ app, the disassembled ID.R can be brought to life either on the computer or on location in Amsterdam. After downloading and opening the app, supported by Augmented Reality, the artwork comes to life: just point the app, which works supported by the smartphone camera, at the real-life subject or at a photo of the graffiti on your computer.


Then the ID.R first assembles into a complete race car, then turns into an x-rayed ID.3 and finally drives a demo lap on the mobile screen as an animated 3D model. Thus, together with Volkswagen, Nychos artistically demonstrates that technical findings from previous record drives find their way from racing into the genes of Volkswagen’s electric production vehicles.






The ID.31 will first be delivered to customers in the spring of 2020.








Andre Dietzel, photos Volkswagen