BMW Art Car #18
BMW released their latest art car last week and Chinese artist Cao Fei made a stunning offering. This was the 18th version of a BMW Art Car. She used technology, including an app, to allow an interactive approach to the artwork. Ironically the 19th BMW Art Car was released earlier than this version. You can’t rush artists I guess.
Cao Fei is quoted as saying, “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.”
The chassis itself is a BMW M6 GT3 racecar with the original carbon black. The car is powered by a 4.4-litre V8 engine with twin turbo’s. That translates to 585 hp with a six-speed sequential racing transmission.
It took three years to develop the car after she was selected as the artist. But this art work doesn’t just sit on a gallery floor. It will be raced by BMW works driver Augusto Farfus at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau in November, 2017.
The BMW Art Car Collection
BMW Art Cars started as a formal tradition in 1975 and Alexaner Calder crafted a BMW 3.0 CSL that subsequently raced at 1975 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW houses the cars in a Munich, Germany museum. Notable artists include Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol and others.
BMW Art Car #19
In November, 2016 a BMW GTLM was unveiled by artist John Baldessari as another BMW Art Car (#19) and it raced at the 24 Hours of Daytona in January, 2017.
Many companies sponsor art competitions or have artwork at their companies. But not many go to the extent that BMW does. We always look forward to their next release.
