The maker of the eco-chic (and super cute and tiny you just want to pinch them) Smart Car is releasing a book of art called Sideways: A Smart Art Project. Curated by 11 magazines from all around the world (including Dazed & Confused, WAD and Blend) and featuring works from 100 different artists, the book evaluates the way in which we think about the environment and mobility and serves as the brand’s creative anthology.

The interesting part is the overall charge: “to express and transform the subject by reflecting the zeitgeist from a consumer point of view which manages to keep a critical feeling of responsibility.” Ironically, much of the zeitgeist is the consumer point of view (whether consumption of art, design, or demand for sustainable goods themselves). If anyone gets that, Smart Car does.

But as the publisher asks, what do the Smart car brand, independent trend magazines and international top creatives have in common? “At first glance maybe not so much but on closer inspection quite a lot since they all share a philosophy of constantly questioning the given, not least when it comes to the global environmental challenges currently facing us all.”

It’s always interesting to see various disciplines take on one issue and, according to Smart Car, this book “looks at the issue of ecology in a new creative context, and it should therefore generate some interesting new takes on the topic. And this is a key motivation behind the approach of Smart itself.

Printed on on sustainably harvested heavy paper, the book is available from Gestalten Verlag.

via  Cool Hunting