Good Thinking

The mischievous French artist who turned an old caravan into a swimming pool

The mischievous French artist who turned an old caravan into a swimming pool
Benedetto Bufalino finds new and discordant uses for ordinary objects
Benedetto Bufalino finds new and discordant uses for ordinary objects
View 38 Images
The telephone aquarium in Lyon 2007 - with Benoit Deseille
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The telephone aquarium in Lyon 2007 - with Benoit Deseille
A 2017 piece - the tennis court on a truck
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A 2017 piece - the tennis court on a truck
One of Bufalino's early ping pong car constructions from 2011
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One of Bufalino's early ping pong car constructions from 2011
The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
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The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
The Peugeot ping pong car in 2018 at the Paris Expo
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The Peugeot ping pong car in 2018 at the Paris Expo
The swimming pool caravan
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The swimming pool caravan
Making the swimming pool caravan
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Making the swimming pool caravan
A car as a pot of flowers in 2013
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A car as a pot of flowers in 2013
The BMW in the sky in 2017
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The BMW in the sky in 2017
The BMW in the sky in 2017
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The BMW in the sky in 2017
The BMW in the sky in 2017
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The BMW in the sky in 2017
The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017
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The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017
The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017
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The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017
Bufalino in his mobile telephone cabin in 2017
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Bufalino in his mobile telephone cabin in 2017
Bufalino in his mobile telephone cabin in 2017
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Bufalino in his mobile telephone cabin in 2017
The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
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The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
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The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
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The Peugeot ping pong car in 2016
The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
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The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
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The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
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The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
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The wood-fired Ford Mondeo pizza oven
A floating caravan in 2013
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A floating caravan in 2013
A floating caravan in 2013
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A floating caravan in 2013
A walled soccer field in 2016
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A walled soccer field in 2016
A walled soccer field in 2016
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A walled soccer field in 2016
A walled soccer field in 2016
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A walled soccer field in 2016
The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
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The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
The police-car chicken coop from 2013
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The police-car chicken coop from 2013
A car street lamp from 2017
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A car street lamp from 2017
A car street lamp from 2017
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A car street lamp from 2017
The limousine public bench from 2017
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The limousine public bench from 2017
A 2017 piece - the tennis court on a truck
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A 2017 piece - the tennis court on a truck
The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
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The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
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The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
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The 2017 mirror ball concrete truck
The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
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The Seat Ibiza Jacuzzi
Benedetto Bufalino finds new and discordant uses for ordinary objects
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Benedetto Bufalino finds new and discordant uses for ordinary objects
View gallery - 38 images

French artist Benedetto Bufalino has been transforming ordinary cars into surreal art installations for several years now. His latest work adventurously reclaims an old caravan and miraculously turns it into a functional, mobile swimming pool.

Bufalino's latest impressive piece of whimsical engineering started by taking an old trailer and systemically gutting the entire inside. His team then reinforced the entire body with a strong steel frame skeleton before incorporating a functional pool into the structure.

The final result is an eye-catching, and fully operational, swimming pool, that can hold a significant number of people. While the final images do show the pool-caravan filled with people on a lovely summer's day, it is unclear how mobile it is when full of water. One would have to assume that while the caravan frame still functions as a transportable trailer it would be way too heavy to actually move when completely full.

The swimming pool caravan
The swimming pool caravan

Still, Bufalino's work is not aimed at creating actual pragmatic products for the marketplace – it's all about the eccentric and mischievous repurposing of old objects into new an unexpected installations.

This isn't the first water-based experiment from Bufalino either, back in 2014 he diced up an old Seat Ibiza to turn it into a working jacuzzi. His unconventional aquarium pieces also created some starkly surreal juxtapositions, more recently turning an industrial excavator into a real, living aquarium.

The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017
The excavator aquarium in Lyon in 2017

Bufalino's other work transforming cars and automobiles is just as eye-catching. Earlier this year the ambitious artist successfully turned an old Ford Mondeo into a real, working, wood-burning pizza oven. Other weird and wonderful installations include an upside-down car streetlight, a limousine ping-pong table, and a concrete mixing truck turned giant mirror ball.

A car street lamp from 2017
A car street lamp from 2017

Take a look through our Bufalino gallery to see more of the artist's extraordinary work.

Source: Benedetto Bufalino / Instagram

View gallery - 38 images
5 comments
5 comments
zr2s10
A Frenchman turns a camper into a pool: "Artist" An American turns a camper into a pool: "Redneck"
And no, there's no way that thing is mobile when loaded. Even if it was lower to the ground (every hillbilly knows pop-up campers make better pools), the movement of the water on top of weight, make it unsafe. If it was a sealed unit, with a much stronger set of axles (like, you know, a tanker), that would work.
Nik
When full, the water and its container would probably weigh in the region of 5 tons! That would be sufficient to tow most cars down any hill they encountered, regardless of the direction their intended travel was. So, its strictly stationary while filled. Also, its doubtful that the tyres would last more than the first kilometre. I suppose it would mean that you could take your pool with you on holiday, as long as you could find a water supply to fill it, and more importantly to empty it. I could make far better use of a JCB excavator, than using it for a fish tank. Tell me where it is, and I'll gladly swop it for a normal glass tank.
ljaques
My first thought, too, was Redneck hottub. That's not art. It's a slap in the face to art. Does he do these to get headlines, along the lines of stupid pet tricks. His mother should have hugged him more, if he has to do this for attention.
Riaanh
Ha, ha, Iove visual artists with a good sense of humour. This one is probably not his greatest work, I like the aquarium in a phone booth. Relax guys, this one is definately not roadworthy. One can see the loose supports in the corners required to keep it stable.
Jose Gros-Aymerich
'French camper Benedetto Buffalino, Italian name and surname, turns a caravan into... an 'Imperial size bathtub' Jacques Tati did something equally ingenious in 'Trafic', a movie in the 'Mr Hulot' series. Enjoy it!, not 'Anchovies' as sounded Maurice Chevalier's song in another movie