BMW Group to Present Frieze Sounds at the Frieze New York 2014.

New York. In their tenth year of partnership with Frieze Art Fair the BMW Group will once again present Frieze Sounds, a program of sound works that are showcased in the BMW 7 Series shuttle service at Frieze New York 2014. For this unique event three specially commissioned audio works were created by the artists Keren Cytter, Cally Spooner and Hannah Weinberger. Frieze Sounds is programmed and curated by Cecilia Alemani. The fair opens to public from May 9-12.

“For the past two years Frieze Sounds has activated the visitor experience beyond my expectations. This year, I wanted to commission artists who use the medium of sound to engage audiences in different ways”, Alemani said prior to the event.

Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America, LLC said, “The Frieze Sounds program adds another gem to BMW’s decade-old tradition of unique cultural initiatives worldwide”.

The BMW 7 Series, where the audio works will be premiered, is the company’s flagship sedan and is the ultimate in performance and luxury. The BMW 7 Series not only sets a new dynamic benchmark for luxury cars, it also offers a first-class environment for the driver as well as for rear passengers. The top engine for the 7 Series is the 6.0-liter TwinPower Turbo V-12 in the BMW 760Li, which delivers 535 horsepower and accelerates from 0 to 60 miles in 4.5 seconds.

Frieze New York 2014

Frieze New York 2014 will present over 190 of the world’s leading galleries, as well as a curated program of artist projects, talks and education activities. Frieze New York is housed in a bespoke temporary structure located in the unique setting of Randall’s Island Park, overlooking the East River.

Since 2004, the BMW Group has powered the Frieze Art Fair VIP shuttle service in London and expanded with Frieze Art Fair to New York in 2012.

For over a decade now, the BMW Group has been an active partner of renowned international art fair including Frieze NY and London, as well as Art Basel in Hong Kong, Miami and Basel, the Berlin Gallery Weekend and TEFAF Maastricht. Together with the partners, new formats are developed that place art fair and their visitors to an even greater extent in the focus of an exchange of ideas and thoughts.

Further information on Frieze sounds New York 2014 can be found at friezeprojectsny.org. This year’s sound files will be available on the fair website as of May 8th, 2014.

Biographies of the Frieze Sounds artists

Keren Cytter (b. 1977, Tel Aviv, Israel)

In her time-based works, Keren Cytter explores social realities through experimental modes of storytelling. The artist fuses reality and fiction to produce deconstructed dialogues, revealing perception to as dependent on linguistics as visual structures. For Frieze Sounds, Cytter presents “Constant State of Grace”, a minimalist composition intended to elevate the souls of visitors and produce a state of near-hypnosis. The composition’s goal is both absurdist and profound. Existing in complete contrast to the high-energy tempo of the fair, Cytter’s audio piece allows for a moment of reprieve and self-awareness amongst the cacophonus crowd.

Cally Spooner (b. 1983, Ascot, UK)

Cally Spooner is well known for her live performances, novellas and films that investigate the philosophical underpinnings of language. For Frieze Sounds, Spooner will present a voiceover for an upcoming film project. This audio piece consists of a demanding, mechanical voice reciting arbitrary stage directions, constantly interrupted by an improvisatory jazz troupe. As the disruptions mount, the competition of the registers teeters between comedy and anarchy. Part unscripted radio drama and part jazz gig, the call-and-response dialogue encourages viewers to contemplate their political agency in relation to the movement and behavior of language.

Hannah Weinberger (b. 1988, Filderstadt, Germany)

Hannah Weinberger investigates the impact of digitization on sound, employing technologies readily available online as artistic tools. Her audio works, with early titles such as Social Network (2009) and Google (2008-10), emphasize the ability of commerce and media to shape behavior through music. For Frieze Sounds, Weinberger will debut a new composition where the bass of the sound track is the frequency of the artist’s own baby’s heartbeat, which is then overlaid with field recordings, natural and artificial settings. By incorporating different layers of recordings, Weinberger expands the sensorial landscape of the fair, transforming immaterial ambience into a symphony of social interaction.

About BMW’s Cultural Commitment

For more than 40 years now, the BMW Group has initiated and engaged in over 100 cultural cooperations worldwide. The company places the main focus of its long-term commitment on modern and contemporary art, jazz and classical music as well as architecture and design. In 1972, three large-scale paintings were created by the artist Gerhard Richter specifically for the foyer of the BMW Group's Munich headquarters. Since then, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Olafur Eliasson, Jeff Koons, Zubin Metha, Daniel Barenboim and Anna Netrebko have co-operated with BMW. The company has also commissioned famous architects such as Karl Schwanzer, Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design important corporate buildings and plants. In 2011, the BMW Guggenheim Lab, a global initiative of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, the Guggenheim Museum and the BMW Group celebrated its world premiere in New York. The BMW Group takes absolute creative freedom in all the cultural activities it is involved in for granted – as this is just as essential for groundbreaking artistic work as it is for major innovations in a successful business. 

Further information: www.bmwgroup.com/culture and www.bmwgroup.com/culture/overview 

For further questions please contact:

Dr Thomas Girst

BMW Group Corporate and Intergovernmental Affairs

Head of Cultural Engagement

Telephone: +49-89-382-24753

Stacy Morris

BMW of North America

Corporate Communications Manager – Marketing and culture

Tel.: +1 201-594-3360

Internet: www.press.bmw.de

E-Mail: presse@bmw.de

The BMW Group

The BMW Group is the leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles in the world with its BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce brands. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 28 production and assembly facilities in 13 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2013, the BMW Group sold approximately 1.963 million cars and 115,215 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2013 was € 7.91 billion on revenues amounting to approximately € 76.06 billion. As of 31 December 2013, the BMW Group had a workforce of 110,351 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been based on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

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