BMW Art Car series enters the virtual world
BMW has carried on its four-decade tradition of Art Cars with the latest produced by Cao Fei, the youngest and first Chinese artist ever to create one.
The first "Art Car" was produced in 1975 and the 3.0 CSL, painted by Alexander Calder, raced in the Le Mans endurance race of that year.
Since Calder's effort, BMW has continued to use other renowned artists such as American icon John Baldessari, Alexander Calder, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Ernst Fuchs, Robert Rauschenberg, M J Nelson, Ken Done, Matazo Kayama, Cesar Manrique, A R Penck, Esher Mahlangu, Sandro Chia, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Olafur Elíasson and Jeff Koons.
Cao Fei's BMW Art Car.
Fei's effort is the 18th "Art Car" but there have been 19 projects but one did not include a car, instead it involved a Z4 with painted tyres being driven over a giant canvas.
READ MORE: Amazing art job on BMW i8 Futurism Edition
Cao Fei's BMW Art Car.
By employing augmented and virtual reality, the Chinese multimedia artist is said to address the future of mobility such as autonomous driving, airborne cars and digitalisation.
Her body of work consists of a video focusing on a time-travelling spiritual practitioner, augmented reality features picturing colourful light particles, accessible via a dedicated app, and the BMW M6 GT3 race car in its original carbon black.
Paying tribute to the carbon-fibre structure of the racecar chassis, Cao Fei's holistic use of a non-reflective black incorporates the car into the possibilities of the digital world.
"To me, light represents thoughts," said Cao Fei.
"As the speed of thoughts cannot be measured, the #18 Art Car questions the existence of the boundaries of the human mind.
"We are entering a new age, where the mind directly controls objects and where thoughts can be transferred, such as unmanned operations and artificial intelligence. Which attitudes and temperaments hold the key to opening the gateway to the new age?"
- Stuff
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