"Z4 by Joshua Davis: A Design Project at the Leading Edge" U.S. artist interprets the new BMW Z4 Coupé in computer-generated unique prints

Munich/New York. Artists love to venture along and even beyond the ragged edge,
pushing the envelope as they work and progressively redefining what is
possible. Just a few years ago, the design of the new BMW Z4 Coupé, for
example, would have been considered impossible to build - the lines too
extravagant, the panels too complex to manufacture. For New York-based designer
Joshua Davis, feasibility problems are familiar ground: His works originate on
the computer, and to date, they have been considered too complex to print. This
common ground recently triggered a spell of close collaboration between Davis
and BMW - giving rise to a limited edition of unique prints inspired by the new
Z4 Coupé.

Thousands of layers in each image.

34-year-old Davis is a pioneer of algorithmic graphic design. The prestigious
locations where his works have been exhibited include the Tate Modern (London),
the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and P.S.1 MoMA (New York). In the runup to the
launch of the BMW Z4 Coupé in mid-2006, Davis will be producing three limited
series of large-format, high-end color prints for BMW which, from today, can be
ordered on a dedicated website. The pioneering aspect here is that each signed
and numbered print has its own individual design - so each one is entirely
unique.

Joshua Davis writes computer programs that deconstruct a defined reality and
reconstruct it at random. Since 1995, his regenerative mode of composition has
been giving rise to pictorial worlds never previously explored; worlds so
complex that a human painter would need weeks, if not months, to create a
single motif by hand. Even sophisticated hi-tech print shops will often throw
in the towel faced with Davis's designs: "With up to 120,000 layers and 50,000
vectors, my artwork freaks printers out," confirms the artist and stresses that
it's only with the help of complex post-editing techniques that actual prints
can be produced.
Auto design meets graphic design.

The artist's main encounters with the BMW Z4 Coupé came at a time when the
final design of the car was still a closely guarded secret. BMW Chief Designer
Adrian van Hooydonk personally introduced Davis to the evolutionary design
concepts and the new elements in BMW's design language on a visit to Munich.
Inspired by what he had seen, the artist translated a number of views of the
coupé and its components into a digital algorithm that now serves as the basis
for the prints. In what was a highly complex process, countless codes had to be
checked for viability in this project and others developed from scratch. Davis
also selected geographic notes and scales from a German school atlas to act as
a symbol of mobility in the prints. At the same time, the constant rotation of
all the elements echoes the BMW logo, which originated as the graphic
representation of a propeller. The artist also found room in the design process
for personal preferences, such as the island-like elements that feature in most
of his works and that give him away as a member of the fan community of the
U.S. television series "Lost."

After three months of intensive effort, in January of this year, Davis gave the
go-ahead for the printing process to start; a process that he supervises, print
by print. "The printer in my New York studio is just three feet away from my
desk and it's going to be keeping me very busy in the next few months," he says
with a smile. Davis sees the Z4 project as very important for his work: "For
the first time, I have a chance to transfer my artwork into the medium of print
in an appropriate way," he says. "The production of series of prints in which
each has its own unique design may seem like a paradox, but it neatly
illustrates the creative potential of my regenerative programs."

Randomness as a basic principle.

Consequently, he doesn't consider the prints as design art in the conventional
sense: "A print from this edition is not an autonomous motif, but a kind of
frozen image of the high-speed workings of my program codes; an image
consciously selected and edited by me, and only documented in this one-off
print." The fact that no buyer can preview his or her personal print is not a
drawback in Davis's, eyes but the logical conclusion of the overall concept.
"The result is the process," he says, and the process is random.

"You could say that the new Z4 Coupé is one of our most thrilling vehicles
right now," says Jan-Christiaan Koenders (Director Brand Communication BMW),
"and in Joshua, we have engaged one the most radical artists of our age in what
is a truly extraordinary form of collaboration! He has obviously developed some
extremely innovative techniques for the creation of exceptional designs."

The results of this meeting of minds and machines can be viewed on a dedicated
website at www.Z4byJD.com.

A short "making of" film provides further insight into how the prints are
created, and the works themselves can be ordered in 24 x 44 inch format (60.96
x 111.76 cm). In the course of this project, Joshua Davis will be creating
three different designs, each in a limited edition of (max.) 500 unique signed
and numbered color prints. They retail at U.S.$280 per print (plus postage and
packing, and any local taxes).

Comprehensive, high-resolution photo material can be downloaded from the
PressClub at www.press.bmwgroup.com (search for: "Joshua Davis") and from the
project website at www.Z4byJD.com.

Should you have any queries, please contact:

Corporate Communications
Thomas Girst, BMW Group, Public Relations, Head of Cultural Communications
Telephone: +49 89 382 24753, Fax: +49 89 382 28017

Michael Kirsch, BMW Group, Head of Public Relations
Telephone: +49 89 382 25111, Fax: +49 89 382 28017

Internet: www.press.bmwgroup.com, www.bmwgroup.com/kultur
e-mail: presse@bmw.de