Over the last 30 years, BMW, one of the world's leading automobile
manufacturers, has implemented over 100 cultural support programs. Of
these, the BMW Art Car Collection, which features BMW cars transformed
into artworks, is a peculiar case without parallel. We look into the
basic policy of the company as it applies to a range of initiatives in
such diverse fields as contemporary art, architecture, and music.
The Art Car Collection: from Calder to Eliasson
Art Cars are cars that have been transformed into
artworks by selected artists. A part of BMW's Art Car Collection is
currently on display at the Mori Arts Center Gallery (until June 8).
Inside the gallery, some 10,000 transparent pipes, backlit so that
beams of light run through them, hang in rows surrounding the cars.
According to architect Aoki Jun, who was responsible for the exhibition
design, the image of "cars dashing between the clouds" was partly
inspired by the fact that the cars are on display in a gallery on the
52nd floor.
The show features a total of five Art Cars created by
Frank Stella, A.R. Penck, Roy Lichtenstein, David Hockney, and Jenny
Holzer, including some that actually participated in races such as the
Le Mans 24-hour race. In 1975, racing driver and art auctioneer Herve
Poulain asked his friend, sculptor Alexander Calder, to paint his own
racing car. The project was taken up by BMW, and the collection
eventually grew to its current size of 15 vehicles. In 2005, to mark
the 30th anniversary of the birth of the collection, it was decided to
take the collection on a world tour. This is the first time the Art
Cars have been exhibited in Japan.
In 2005, Olafur Eliasson was commissioned to produce the
16th Art Car after a selection process that involved six curators and
other experts from various countries. In stark contrast to the Andy
Warhol episode, which saw the artist finish painting his car in just 20
minutes, Eliasson spent some three years making inquiries and studying
various ideas with different departments within BMW before completing
his car. And whereas most of the previous artists chose to decorate the
exterior of their vehicles, Eliasson's concept was completely new. He
started by stripping his hydrogen-powered racing car to its frame, then
he wrapped it in translucent material and coated it with a layer of ice
by hosing it with chilled water, illuminating it from the inside with
lights. The finished work, which swept away the Art Car tradition, went
on display in 2007 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, where it
attracted considerable attention.
Support for young artists
According to BMW AG Head of Cultural Communications
Thomas Girst, projects like the Art Car Collection in which BMW
products are prominent are the exception rather than the rule.
"As a general rule, our basic policy on activities is to
support young artists over the long term, and we take care to ensure
that the BMW name, which is well known throughout the world, isn't too
conspicuous. We've established a number of prizes for young artists,
such as the Premio de Pintura, a competition for young painters in
Spain, and the Nationalgalerie Prize for Young Art, and we also support
the AkademieGalerie. We have a policy of continuing our support for the
winners of these prizes for a minimum of three years."
On the other hand, there are cases where the BMW name is
strategically pushed to the front. For example, wealthy patrons gather
together for brief periods during art fairs in places like Basel and
Miami. By sponsoring these fairs and providing VIP shuttle and other
services, BMW looked to use these events to attract future patrons.
"However, because the fairs in Basel and Miami seemed to
go from strength to strength each year, and because so many alternative
fairs sprang up, we decided to stick to our policy of providing support
during the initial stage only and concluded our associate partnership
as of 2007, ending our six-year commitment. We intend to continue our
support for other events such as the Frieze Art Fair, FIAC, and Paris
Photo."
Whether the recipient is an individual or a group, the company's approach of supporting the potential of youth is the same.
The ideal shape of cultural activities
In fields other than contemporary art, too, a feature of
BMW's support of the arts is the global and varied nature of its
activities, which include commissioning cutting edge architects such as
Zaha Hadid and Coop Himmelb(l)au to design corporate buildings, staging
opera, and supporting classical, jazz, and other performers.
"Culture comprises a range of different elements, and we
make an effort to provide support suited to the context and background
in each country."
Girst himself studied art history and has pursued
various occupations that enabled him to make full use of his specialist
knowledge. He relies on a network of curators and other experts active
on the international stage and continually holds discussions with these
people and strategically considers the benefits BMW might gain as a
company before making decisions as to what to support and in what way.
"Ideally we want people to think that particular works or
artists are of a high quality because they have the support of BMW, and
accordingly that BMW's products are also of a high quality."
Another distinguishing feature of BMW is that for some
time employees have been given the opportunity to engage with art and
culture. In Munich, where BMW once had a manufacturing plant, there was
no autobahn linking the plant to the city center. So in an effort to
provide employees with more opportunities to enjoy art, the company
began offering tickets to exhibitions and theaters at a discount.
Gallery tours, opera visits, and other events organized especially for
the company's 35,000 employees are still held every three months.
Girst is keeping a close eye on the trend that's seeing
more and more Japanese artists as well as artists from China and other
parts of Asia making inroads into Europe and North America. In light of
this, many people will be keen to see how things unfold at BMW, which
has consistently provided support suited to the cultural infrastructure
of each country.
Left: Frank Stella, Art Car 1976, 3.0 CSL
Right: Roy Lichtenstein, Art Car 1977, BMW 320i group 5 racing version
Installation views at Mori Art Center
Left: Andy Warhol Art Car 1979, BMW M1 group 4 racing version, Courtesy BMW AG
Right: A.P. Penck, Art Car 1991, BMW Z1
Left: David Hockney painting Art Car 1995, BMW 850 CSi
Right: Jenny Holzer signing Art Car 1999, BMW V12 LMR
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