Smithsonian Channel

When you clean out your desk twice a year, what do you do with the 37 extra pens you find? How about when you open your junk drawer in the kitchen or basement, how many pens do you have in there? And how many do you seriously need living in the junk drawer?!

How about donating them to The Pen Guy, Costas Schuler, for his art car called the Mercedes Pens seen here.

Image by Costas Schuler, The Pen Guy

In 2006, Smithsonian Channel met The Pen Guy and other talented artists at the Art Car Fest, held at the end of September each year on the West Coast.

Recently, I caught up with The Pen Guy to learn more about his moving masterpiece. (Which is also his primary means of transportation because he drives it to work everyday!)

AM: How did your art car, The Mercedes Pens, originate?

CS: Well I saw this book at the library on art cars and I was so fascinated and amazed by it, I read it for 6 weeks trying to learn all about art cars. When I finished it, I knew it was something I wanted to do. But I waited about 2 years until I figured out what kind of artwork I was going to create.

AM: Why pens?

CS: I did some research and didn’t see anyone with an art car made with pens so I knew it was a unique idea. I’m a graphic designer. I use pens a lot so it was a no-brainer. I was like, “Yea! Pens! Thats it!”

AM: How did you make the art car? Did you sit in your driveway and glue all the pens in your house to it?

CS: I took only 20 pens from my house, went out into the garage in the middle of the night and glued them on the door as a start.  Then I kept driving it wherever I needed to go, telling my friends and family about the idea. I visited schools and companies and before I knew it, people would just come running up to me with a bag full of their pens! Everyone is so helpful and into the idea.

AM: Is it a finished work of art?

CS: Oh no, I have been working on it for three and a half years and I’m still going! Some pens don’t hold up well in certain weather, they disintegrate or they fade and don’t look as nice, so it’s a constant work in progress, which is fun.

AM: What’s going to happen when you run out of space on the car?

CS: I’ve been thinking about that a lot actually, and no one is really doing anything about recycling and reusing pens- except me! I actually want to go beyond the car and start a non-profit organization to find a solution for how to use old pens.

Another one of my new goals is collect 1 million pens! I’ll use them for wall murals and large works of art for public display. Each pen would represent a pixel and be part of a larger piece. People are doing this with all kinds of things now. Photo mosaics- you know like that guy who made the Mona Lisa out of computer parts? No one is doing pens, and I want to do pens. There is a need to find other uses for pens and to create awareness about recycling them.

AM: How many pens do you think you have?

CS: Oh close to 10,000 I think.

AM: That is a lot of pens! What keeps you going with this project?

CS: The best part is really the people I get to meet. They are always smiling and laughing, taking pictures and giving me the thumbs-up. It’s cross-cultural. I mean I’ve gone into some pretty tough neighborhoods driving my car and people just come over to me and say, “What’s up dude? Cool car!” I can’t explain it- it’s just so neat! I have a day job and everything but this is what I really love to do. I’m a goof-ball. I do stand-up comedy sometimes, just here and there. But this car allows me to break the ice and bring joy to people.

AM: Are there any plans for a second car or a different project?

CS: No not another car, actually, I want to see if I can get a RV donated as my new project. I could be a motivational speaker and educate people on how they can really live their dream. I want to travel the country with my family and have people bring pens to the RV to glue them on themselves. Kind of like a paint-by-number, but with pens.

AM: What kind of glue do you use anyway? It can’t be Elmers!

CS: 100% clear silicon.

AM: What is the message you spread to society, using your art car?

CS: The main thing is I want to encourage people to follow their dreams. We all have gifts and talents and we need to pursue them. Every one of us has something that makes us alive. When you’re doing that one thing, and other people see your passion, they are encouraged to follow their dreams. I am doing what makes me feel alive and I just want others to feel alive too.