Chinese premium brand casts light on acclaimed Kiwi film director’s thematic.

INTEGRATION into an art installation that involved a 2.5-tonne sports utility hanging above different scenes has been enacted by a Chinese electric car brand setting out to prove itself the equal of established European elites.

Spotlight is acclaimed Hollywood (JoJo Rabbit, Hunt for the Wilderpeople) filmmaker and creative Taika Waititi’s debut photography exhibition for Zeekr, the upmarket sub-brand of the Geely group, whose products are represented here by Giltrap Group’s Nordeast distributor chain.

It is open to the public in Ponsonby, Auckland, from today to September 4. Entry is free.

The thematic is of seven ‘cinematic worlds’ and for every image the headlights of a Zeekr 7X provided the sole source of light. I

Publicity for the exhibition says it is “built on the notion that the best ideas rarely announce themselves, but can arrive uninvited and unexpected.”

The five-seater medium SUV was suspended from the ceiling of Studio West, the Auckland production facility co-owned by Waititi, allowing its headlights to become the source of light to shape what the camera could see.

It is not clear what Hollywood tricks were used to reshape an illumination spread for the road into a circular pool of light.

For the public display, the car is parked on the studio floor.

Across the seven images, according to a media share, Waititi’s world takes on a distinctly different shape each time, from an alien visitation, to a warehouse rave, a bodybuilder mid-pose, a table set for a feast, a red-carpet swarm, and two diners entirely unbothered by any of it.

Waititi says having only the car’s headlights to light each scene brought a unique take to the photographic process and “forced me to be specific and single-minded about each scene.”

Zeekr Australia and New Zealand managing director Frank Li says the collaboration reflects Zeekr's transtasman ambition.

“Taika is one of the most influential creative voices to emerge from New Zealand, with a body of work that resonates globally and a strong connection to audiences across both New Zealand and Australia.

“The collaboration reflects the confidence and ambition that sit at the heart of the Zeekr brand and demonstrates our commitment to doing things differently,” says Li.

NordEast Group general manager Dane Fisher says Zeekr wanted a different way to introduce the 7X to a New Zealand audience.

“What I love about this project is the Zeekr 7X isn't just featured in the work, it's responsible for it.”

Zeekr’s primary aspiration is to establish itself as a alternate to the likes of Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Lexus, but often with pricing advantage, with the 7X presently featuring prominently in that.