BMW Art Car, an old tradition that kicked off in 1975, has now gone digital with the 18th car being showcased in Beijing. The latest iteration of the BMW Art Car is created using ultra-modern techniques like digital arts and augmented reality to stimulate the mind and please the soul. For the 18th BMW Art Car installation, BMW invited renowned Chinese artist Cao Fei, who is known for her stellar digital art installations that portray a surreal world while telling the story of an ever changing China.
The basis for the 18th Art Car installation was the superb M6 GT3 racecar that features a complete carbon-fibre body, a perfect canvas for Cao Fei’s digital artistry. The latest art car is completely different than what artists in the past have created as there is hardly any kind of paint on it. The black carbon-fibre surface acts as the canvas for the digital artistry, which features three components – a video showing a time travelling spiritual practitioner, colourful light particles that are projected on the car via augmented reality and finally an M6 GT3 racer in its carbon-fibre glory.
The 18th Art Car uses an app, just like most artistic things today, to show you the video where the spiritual practitioner is executing spiritual moves that give birth to swishes of light, which float around the M6 GT3 creating a surreal experience, involving the car. The narrative revolves around the ancient tradition where a new object, like a car, is blessed for safety and good luck.
The 18th Art Car is currently on display at the BMW Brand Experience Centre in Shanghai, which is open for all public to experience the art car and also the world of BMW infused with Chinese elements. Fei’s Art Car will also be competing in the FIA FT World Cup in Macau in November 2017.
To know more about the BMW Art Car you can visit artcar.bmwgroup.com, which contains a lot more information about all the BMW Art Cars.
