Warsaw. BMW presents the third instalment of the “BMW
Art Club. The future is art” project. This year’s artist is Michael
Hansmeyer, who has been commissioned by BMW to create a monumental
360-degree multimedia projection and an architectural sculpture
designed using artificial intelligence, which will be the counterpoint
of the video. His exhibition “Digital Grotesque” will open at Nowy
Teatr on 6 October.
Traditionally, as part of the BMW Art Club, the brand joins forces
with a leading cultural institution in Poland to jointly prepare an
innovative cultural event. Vibrancy, unfettered imagination,
innovative use of new technologies and homage to beauty are the common
denominator of the installations and sculptures of the artist, whose
work has so far been shown at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, among
others. Throughout his work, Michael Hansmeyer asks: “What are the
things that were previously unattainable and became possible thanks to
innovation?”. This is exactly the question that guides BMW as a
future-oriented brand.
By inviting the artist, architect and artificial intelligence expert
Michael Hansmeyer to collaborate, BMW is creating an experience that
will allow us to ask about the relationship between humans,
technology, art and the world. As BMW Art Club project curator Stach
Szabłowski reveals: “For our commission, the artist is preparing an
immersive multimedia installation called ‘Digital Grotesque’ and a
sculpture inspired by ancient columns to complement the virtual world.
His hallmark is harnessing machines and intelligent algorithms to
explore and create beauty. His artistic practice is a kind of
laboratory for experimenting with the new possibilities that the
development of intelligent technologies opens up for us in the fields
of shaping space as well as creating beauty,” explains Szabłowski.
“Digital Grotesque” is Hansmeyer’s flagship project, which the artist
has been perfecting for years. He works on every aspect of it: from
writing code and algorithms using artificial intelligence, to 3D
printing at the highest level of complexity currently possible, to the
handiwork that requires surgical precision – the finishing of the
installation. Designed especially for the Nowy Teatr space, the work
will allow us to – literally – touch the effect of the algorithms
created by the artist.
As Michael Hansmeyer himself explains: “I am interested in how
developments in technology are redefining before our very eyes what is
possible in architecture and design and, above all, what is
conceivable. In my opinion, algorithms are a tool, but one that, in
partnership with humans, is able to help them understand themselves,
recognize their capabilities and even come closer to grasping the
nature of such a fleeting concept as beauty.”
BMW is a pioneer of new technologies, setting trends in sustainable
mobility. At the Research and Innovation Center (FIZ) in Munich, BMW
creates solutions that shape the future. Michael Hansmeyer’s art
combines the latest advances in programming and artificial
intelligence with unrestrained creativity, for which tomorrow is the
horizon. For his art practice, a visit to the FIZ in Munich was an
inspiring and opening experience, and for BMW, the selection of the
artist for this year's BMW Art Club was in turn a natural fit with the
brand's core values.
The exhibition “Digital Grotesque” as part of BMW Art Club. The
Future is Art 2022 will be on show from 6 to 22 October at the Nowy
Teatr in Warsaw.
The entry will be free to all visitors of the Nowy Teatr. With this
gesture, BMW fits in with the trend of making culture as widely
available as possible, which has become stronger especially in a
post-pandemic world. The brand is consciously creating a new form of
cultural patronage.
The project partner is the Nowy Teatr, and the technology partner is
Epson, which is providing the projectors used in the exhibition.
