On the day that the world finally gets to read journ­alists’ first hand accounts of what the new British supercar is actually like to drive (see Influx writer Ben Oliver’s splendid account of hanging with the MP4 12C and Jenson Button here) we thought we’d focus on an incredible piece of Franco-​​Latin artistic imagin­eering , rather than the genius piece of passionate engin­eering released today from the boys at Woking. Call us contrary, but there you go.

Gabriel Orozco is a sculptor who’s a bit on the whacky side. He likes to take everyday objects – cat-​​food tins, yoghurt lids etc – and alter them, ever so slightly, to reveal something different about them: to find a way of seeing.

Take his Citroën DS that he sliced into thirds and removed the centre to exaggerate the little Sixties motor’s stream lining. Why? Because as a child the artist – seduced by racing and fast cars – imagined that any car could be faster if only it were a little thinner.

In the way of all artists this piece is shrouded in layer upon layer of context. DS is pronounced déesse, meaning goddess in French. The result is a sculpture that is at once clunky and sleek, in limbo somewhere between Noddy’s ride and a light­ening quick aerody­namic Formula 1 car.

Curious? Pop along to London’s Tate Modern to witness the beauti­fully spliced freak before April 25.