AKTE ONE ART PROJECTS
THE BIG ONE
THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
AKTE ONE ART PROJECTS
THE BIG ONE
THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
In May 2022, I was given the honor of being invited to paint the legendary train in the MOLOTOW HEADQUARTER.
ART PROJECTS THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
THE MISSION
PREPARATION & THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
 I think almost all the artists who were invited to paint this train felt the same way.
You make a good plan at home, a nice sketch with a cool color concept and calculate the cans for it. When calculating, you consider that the thing might be a bit bigger than it looks in the photos. Then you arrive at the location and are first given a tour of the entire MOLOTOW HEADQUARTER with gallery, warehouse, store and offices with all the nice employees …
And then you come to the courtyard where the train is parked, and the closer you get, the more powerful it looks. It's only when you're standing right in front of it that you realize how big it is and how much work you have to do …
ART PROJECTS THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
THE CHALLENGE
TWO DAYS HARD WORK TO BEAT IT
OK… The bottom edge of the train only started at chest height – another thing I hadn't realized before. This meant a lot of climbing up the ladder, not to mention it took what felt like 5 minutes to walk from one end of the train to the other, and I've walked this route far too many times in that time.
The weather was great, and even though it was supposed to rain, I was right in the spotlight of the sun. The lack of cans wasn't a problem as I was right at the source. Only time was breathing down my neck and driving me inexorably forward, actually I would have liked to celebrate the whole thing a bit more, but by the time I came to and got the job done, two days had passed. I even had to hurry to take a few photos before it got dark.
I had just one cigarette to enjoy my finished work at the location and I was already on my way home.
ART PROJECTS THE MOLOTOW TRAIN
THE VIDEO
TWO DAYS IN TWO AND A HALF MINUTES
Thanks to the guys from RED TOWER FILM for the MAKING OF film and for the many photos which you can see below.
And of course thanks to Jürgen Feuerstein and the whole MOLOTOW team for the invitation and the hospitality on site.
THE GALLERY