Critic's car crash made into art

The artists has admitted to "poetic licence" in the work

The car in which art critic Robert Hughes nearly lost his life has been made into a work of art.

An installation by artist Danius Kesminas on display in Perth, Australia, consists of the wreck of the rented car in which Hughes had a serious accident, displayed inside a clear box.

Australian-born Hughes drove the car into a head-on collision near Broome, Western Australia, in May 1999 - and was seriously injured.

Hughes has been a sympathetic judge of modern art

Three occupants of the other car were also hurt, one seriously.

After the incident the 63-year-old author and critic was charged with dangerous driving, but charges were dismissed after a hearing in May 2000.

The charges have subsequently been revived after an appeal and a new trial date is being awaited.

Mangled

Hughes' car is being displayed at Elvis Has Just Left the Building, a Perth International Arts Festival exhibition focusing on urban mythology.

The mangled vehicle is surrounded by fishing lures, lines and hooks, a crushed pair of spectacles, car brake light fragments and a crumpled can of beer.

There is also a battered copy of Hughes' celebrated work of Australian history, The Fatal Shore.

Newspaper clippings about the crash and the court hearing are on surrounding walls.

Melbourne-born Kesminas said the installation was intended to encourage people to view the car crash in a different way, and admitted to using some "poetic licence" in which objects were placed with the wreck.

It is not know what Hughes, who lives in the US, thinks of the exhibit.