The day has finally come, the artwork I have spent numerous hours completing will be shown in a gallery. Years of applications, critiques, and all-nighters have led me to this moment. As I pick my canvas up off of the easel its physical and metaphorical weight overtake my body. After a careful walk down the hallway, taking extra effort to avoid bumping corners and other people, I bring my painting to the loading dock. My trunk is already open, and I’m easily able to slide the piece into the back. My turpentine, linseed oil, and the rest of my oil painting supplies have already been packed into the trunk.
With my painting packed, the journey to the gallery begins. I’ve given myself ample time to drive to the gallery and have made this drive more than enough to ditch the directions. However, other drivers and new road work are factors that you can never predict. As I turn onto high street, I’m enveloped in rush hour traffic. I’m careful as I manage the stop-and-go of the cars, my phone buried in the tote bag in the passenger seat and my music turned down to limit my distractions. Just as I feel like traffic is moving more efficiently, the driver in front of me slams on their breaks. I hear their screeching tires as I quickly respond, trying to break as fast as I can to avoid hitting the back of their car.
I brace for impact, but thankfully I stop just shy of their back bumper. My heart is pounding and my anxiety spikes at the realization that I could have just been in an accident. Luckily I’m safe and a wave of relief washes over me. The rest of my drive is normal, but a couple of bumps from a new construction project that’s popped up further down High Street. When I pull into the gallery’s loading dock I’m radiating with excitement.
However, my heart drops to my stomach when I open the trunk to see that my turpentine has spilled all over my trunk and the painting, slowly dissolving the paint on the canvas. That one quick break ruined my ability to show my work in the gallery andI have to start all over. In an instant, all my dreams for this exhibition have slipped through my fingers.
Spills, breakage, and unforeseen accidents are cruel realities of an artist’s life, capable of derailing not just a day’s work, but an entire career. This is the unfortunate consequence of a lack of standardization in the process of art transportation and the greater phenomenon of car manufacturers not offering specialized storage options in their vehicles.
I’m Morgan Brown, and for my senior design capstone I am working with Honda to explore how to best utilize the front trunk “frunk” of electric vehicles. The frunk is a newer and therefore often unutilized storage component found in electric vehicles. As consumers slowly switch to electric vehicles, it’s becoming more imperative that automotive manufacturers research and establish systems of organization to meet their consumers needs and priorities. Design has the ability to make a frunk space that is modular and works for a variety of industries. However, my research and subsequent conjectures focus specifically on the frunk’s ability to offer specialized organization for artists and crafters. Interventions would provide artists with a greater sense of security when transporting their work and limit the need to create makeshift transport solutions. My hope is that this would give artists the peace-of-mind to pursue more projects that build their careers and unite their various communities.
Increased Presence of EV’s on the Market
Over the next two decades many countries around the world plan to switch their automotive markets to mostly if not completely rely on the sale of electric vehicles (EVs). These governments are using a variety of initiatives such as tax breaks, grants, and other incentives to encourage consumers to purchase these vehicles and encourage automakers to expand their production (Rapson & Muehlegger, 2022). This is in response to the increased pressure put on my developed countries to reduce their carbon emissions and slow the effects of climate change in a timely manner. Many automotive manufacturers have promised that the expansion of production and increased purchases of EVs will allow for their average price to be equal if not less than that of standard internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
What’s even more important in the expanded adoption of EVs is expansion of charging networks. Throughout the past decade automotive manufacturer Tesla has established a monopoly on EV chargers in the United States. However, recent negotiations between Tesla and General motors have resulted in widespread adoption of Tesla charging systems across automotive manufacturers (Ewing, 2023). These negotiations drastically shift the future of EVs sales in the US now that drivers have access to over 19,000 Tesla-operated charging stations nationwide (Ewing, 2023).
Over time, the expanded access to charging networks and increased incentives to purchase EVs will make them a ubiquitous component of modern transportation. In fact, many countries’ hope that they will be able to phase out the sale of ICE vehicles altogether by 2050 at the latest (Rapson & Muehlegger, 2022). As additional technology such as self-driving and AI-powered software become further developed, it’s safe to say that these cars will be able to provide a unique driving experience that users and manufacturers alike have yet to fully understand (Oranim, 2024)(Velazco, 2024).
One thing that is a fact about electric vehicles is that they offer increased storage opportunities to consumers. “By ditching the enormous internal combustion engine (ICE) for electric motors and battery packs, Electric Vehicles (EVs) [don’t] need to take up that space with the engine and can repurpose it” (Gunther, 2023). Thus the frunk is born.
Conjecture: Modular Portable Storage
As companies begin scaling production of EVs or developing their own models, there’s an increased pressure on automotive manufacturers to better understand how this space can be utilized to suit the diverse needs of a variety of users. Even among ICEs there’s a large aftermarket for organization and storage solutions. Based on research into this market I developed my first conjecture, a modular storage and organization bin that can be easily removed from the frunk and rolled to aid in the transport of heavy or bulky cargo such as art supplies or even groceries and children’s toys. This concept also brings LED lighting, an outlet, and a drain plug into the frunk space.
The pitfalls of this conjecture is that for some users the storage container could be too bulky or too heavy to carry out of the frunk when filled with supplies. Additionally, extra consideration would need to be made for the textiles that are on the outside of the storage container. It was important to me that the sides were flexible but this does open up the possibility of staining and tearing with use over time.
The Transportation Conundrum
For my capstone research, I have chosen to focus specifically on the frunk’s ability to meet the needs of artists and creators, allowing for more efficient and damage-free transportation of supplies and works of art. This is a problem with stakeholders including automotive manufacturers themselves, artists, galleries, museums, and patrons of the arts alike.
Even among high-profile museums and across the various prominent art transportation services there is a discrepancy and lack of standardization in the process of packing and transporting pieces of art. “Coordination and careful planning are the crucial factors ensuring that not only will the exhibition materialize at the correct time, but also that the works of art are safely handled at each stage of the journey. Although museums have been engaged in this activity for many years, they have failed to establish standard procedures in the areas of packing and transport which would not only ensure the safety of the works of art, but would also lessen the problems of coordination” (Sitwell, 1983). At the local and small-scale gallery level, implementation of clearly-defined standards could completely revitalize the process of procuring and installing work by lessening the time spent ensuring the safe transportation of work and reducing time spent fixing damages.
Additionally, better handling of artwork from the studio to gallery space ensures its value in the instance that the work is procured by an inventor or patron. This is especially important in the United States, where we have a high concentration of high-networth-individuals to opt to procedure pieces of art to diversify their financial portfolio and provide increased financial security (Ellis, 2020).
Despite the importance of safety in the transportation of art and supplies, there’s a gap in products and solutions, even among aftermarket accessories, that attempt to solve this problem in personal vehicles. This leaves artists across mediums vulnerable to damage such as spills, chips, cracks, and warping just to name a few.
Art’s Ability to Bring Communities Together
Asides from the financial implications of artwork damage, it also has the ability to profoundly affect the community of people that intend to engage with these pieces. Additionally, further exploration into storage solutions have the ability to benefit artists who create work that is participatory and bring a community together based on a shared geographic location, occupation, or even emotion. The communal participation or viewing of art can have a profound effect on a sense of belonging and identity among participants (Balaban, 2024).
Focus Conjecture: Frunk Workspace
The combined economic stress and potential community impact of damaged art and materials is an incredibly important and wide gap in the automotive storage market. My second conjecture offers a more targeted storage solution that addresses this issue. My Frunk Workspace conjecture offers a multitude of magnetically-sealed drawers and compartments that keep supplies organized and contained. The workspace also offers a fold out table that is able to easily slide out of the frunk and be set up in a variety of locations. Additionally, the table provides a flat surface to rest pieces of art on and potentially strap or tie them into place.
In the development of this conjecture special attention should be paid to the way that the drawers and other storage compartments close and keep supplies stable in flight. My hope is that these would be modular options, but ultimately the security of the supplies is the most important. In application, it’s highly likely that the storage options and the table would be sold a two separate features, giving users the ability to chose whether or not they would like the worktable in the frunk. Additionally, this conjecture raises questions about the cost and whether or not this feature would come standard in a certain model of vehicle or an add-on.
Given that electric vehicles are becoming more prominent in the automotive market, how can designers utilize the space to better accommodate the dynamic and unique storage needs of a variety of users? More specifically, how can the frunk provide efficient and secure storage for the transportation of art supplies and pieces of art?
References
Balaban, S. (2024). A death educator and a knitter walk into a cemetery — it’s “Grieving & Weaving.” NPR. https://www.npr.org/2024/08/16/nx-s1-5053167/grieving-and-weaving-green-wood-cemetery-brooklyn
Ewing, J. (2023). Tesla May Have Already Won the Charging Wars. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/27/business/energy-environment/tesla-gm-ford-charging-electric-vehicles.html
Gunther, C., (2023). What Is a Frunk, and Which Els Have the Best One?. How-To Geek. https://www.howtogeek.com/electric-vehicles-with-the-best-frunk/
Oranim, R., (2024). The Impact and Benefits of AI in the Automotive Industry. Fullpath. https://www.fullpath.com/blog/the-impact-and-benefits-of-ai-in-the-automotive-industry/
Rapson, D., & Muehlegger, E. (2022) The Not-So-Certain Economics of Electric Vehicles. Milken Institute Review. https://www.milkenreview.org/articles/the-not-so-certain-economics-of-electric-vehicles
Sitwell, C. L., (1983) Transporting exhibitions: Museums must act together, Museum Management and Curatorship, 2:4, 355-358, DOI:10.1080/09647778309514894
Velazco, C., Jimenez, A., & Abril, D. (2024). So you want to ride a self-driving taxi? How Waymo compares in our tests. The Washington Post . https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/09/12/waymo-vs-uber-lyft-cost-speed-robotaxi-rideshare/
