As part of this year’s Frieze London Art Fair, BMW commissioned  Madeline Hollander for the 2021 BMW Open Work, a site-specific installation within the BMW Lounge. 

The BMW Open Work initiative brings together art, technology and design in a pioneering multi-platform format. Titled, 'Sunrise/Sunset', Hollander’s commission was selected by curator Attilia Fattori Franchini, and was introduced during Frieze Week in 2020 via an interactive digital platform and livery intervention on BMW i3 electric vehicles. 

At Frieze London 2021, Hollander revealed her work which is composed of recycled LED headlights from the BMW Group Recycling and Dismantling Centre. Following an intense dialogue with the organisation’s sustainability department and investigation into the automatic adaptive system of BMW headlights, Hollander developed a networked map choreographed by the sunsets and sunrises across the globe.  

Fascinated by the responsive nature of headlight technology that reacts to a number of factors, such as movement, light and weather conditions, Hollander has synced each headlight to a different time zone, creating a live global clock. In Hollander’s work our apparently erratic individual actions and everyday technologies synchronically align, becoming a collective, and in this case cascading-dance. The installation is accompanied by an original score by composer Celia Hollander. 

Take a closer look at Hollander's Sunrise/Sunset Study (2020) here. 

NO ONE IS AN ISLAND.

BMW i and the art group Random International together with choreographer Wayne McGregor and his company collaborate for the online world premiere of “No One is an Island”.

“No One is an Island” is fuelled by science and explores electrified movement steered by advanced algorithms. It is a future-oriented reflection on how the human mind empathises with artificial intelligence and automated processes. The performance comprises sculptural, performative and musical elements. 

The centrepiece is a sculpture that experiments with the minimal amount of information that is actually necessary for an animated form to be recognised as human; and the fundamental impact created by subtle changes within that information.

In its transition from robot to human likeness, the sculpture is accompanied by a live performance with dancers of Studio Wayne McGregor who will interact with the kinetics, further exploring the relationship between humans and technology and our capacity to empathise with a machine.

The interventions of the dancers scored by Chihei Hatakeyama add a performative dimension to the sculpture, re-translating and celebrating the connection between human and mechanical movement. 

To watch the trailer please click here.  

SUSTAINABLE CONNECTIONS.

BMW provided a courtesy car fleet focusing on our sustainable range. The fleet was made up of over 40 electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, showcasing our new cutting-edge, fully electric all-wheel drive BMW iX, as well as our 7 series, 5 series and X5 plug-in hybrid models. This service was available to Frieze Off-diary members to shuttle between Frieze London and Frieze Masters and up to a five-mile radius of Regent’s Park.