DORIGIN

"In the end it is between you, Mercedes and God." Eric Van Hove, 2022.

The iconic Mercedes W123 was designed to go on forever. This may be one of the reasons why the model is so popular in Arab countries, and especially in Morocco. When Eric Van Hove was invited by the Frankfurter Kunstverein, he took the Arab world's fondness for the German car brand as a starting point for the creation of a new work. Together with a local team of mechanics and craftsmen, he reassembled a Mercedes W123 240D in his studio in Marrakech. Using spare parts from ten imported donor cars, the crew "sculpted" a brand-new and road-ready version of the model. A symbolic battle between Van Hove's team and Mercedes.

Van Hove then drove the car from Marrakech to Frankfurt following a specific route whose directions can be read inside the vehicle. Moroccan director Meriem Abid made a film about this roadtrip. The title DORIGIN has different meanings depending on the location of the car, signalling a deeper exchange: in Morocco, the phrase "d'origine" is a badge of honour, referring to the perceived quality and status of a brand product originating in Europe. But this is no mass-produced, run-of-the-mill Mercedes 240D – it's a pièce unique, an original design hand-built in Morocco.