First of all – no Audi R8 was hurt in the creation of this amazing photograph. Dismantled piece by piece, yes, but permanently injured? No.

This is the sort of project that would baffle the minds of those who are permanently in a hurry. There is simply no fast way to disassemble an Audi R8 V10 and photograph every single component individually, and then create a a single image that effectively shows the car exploding in slow motion, or disintegrating, to use the correct name of photographer Fabian Oefner’s ongoing series.

This particular painstaking work was commissioned to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the all-conquering Audi V10 engine, and what better way to celebrate such success but to pull one completely apart?

Aside from those who are particularly mechanically minded, few people consider just what goes into a modern car, never mind a high-performance modern supercar. Indeed, some of those involved in taking the car apart had never before had the chance to see the minute detail inside some specific components, given that many parts would ever be pulled apart even for repair, but rather replaced if needed.

Of course this is not the first car the Swiss artist has pulled a car apart in the name of art, and he’s become particularly good at it. He started his ‘Disintegrating’ series six years ago, and started out small – literally. Detailed models were his first victims… err, subjects, and he has worked his way up to the real thing over several years.

It’s impossible to overstate the amount of work involved in taking a car like this apart. And when we say taking it apart that means taking every nut, bolt and washer of every individual component apart as well. Although it’s hard to appreciate in this day and age, there is not CGI involved in the end result, which has literally been constructed using the individual images of the individual components.

To capture or perhaps more accurately represent this celebrated supercar in this way is unprecedented – literally as the sum of its parts.

Of course the bring question is – did he put it back together again?