[Jason]

BMW Blends Art and Artificial Intelligence to Create “The Ultimate AI Masterpiece.”

Frieze New York taking place at The Shed from May 5-9, 2021.

Munich. BMW debuted today the “The Ultimate AI Masterpiece,” a unique exploration of art and technology that uses artificial intelligence to generate entirely new works. The virtual art installation premieres in conjunction with Frieze New York 2021, as well as the 50th anniversary of BMW Group Cultural Engagement. Content and videos documenting its creation process are available today online via www.bmw.com

“The Ultimate AI Masterpiece” virtual art installation was created in partnership with creative technologist Nathan Shipley of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and Gary Yeh, Art Collector & Founder of ArtDrunk. The duo leveraged Nvidia’s open source “StyleGAN” artificial intelligence software to cross-reference over 50,000 images of artwork spanning 900 years of art history and a curated set of 50 works from renowned and emerging contemporary artists BMW has worked with over the past 50 years. Using these inputs as a basis for understanding art, the artificial intelligence then generates entirely new works of art, merging what it learned from classical art and the styles noted from the contemporary artists. These new works have been projection-mapped onto a virtual rendition of BMW’s range-topping 8 Series Gran Coupe.

To document the creative process behind the virtual installation, Shipley and Yeh collaborated digitally from different parts of the world – Yeh in Seoul, Shipley in San Francisco – and virtually joined each other for an engaging conversation on the technology behind the artwork created by the AI, as well as BMW’s decades-long support of the arts. “The Ultimate AI Masterpiece” documentary video is available at www.bmw.com

BMW is committed to cultural engagement around the world and takes its social responsibility seriously as a corporate citizen. Over a hundred long-term cultural initiatives in the fields of modern and contemporary art, classical music, jazz and sound as well as in architecture and design have been well established throughout the decades. Together with other partners, the BMW Group developed its own range of partnerships and activations with renowned artists, musicians, designers, curators, initiatives including the BMW Guggenheim Lab, BMW Tate Live, BMW Open Work by Frieze, the BMW Welt Jazz Award, the BMW Art Guide by Independent Collectors, the BMW Art Journey and the free concert series Opera for all in Berlin, Munich, Moscow and London.

From May 5-9, 2021, Frieze New York runs its tenth edition, taking place for the first time at The Shed in Manhattan. Reimagined for its new location, the fair brings together over 60 major galleries and sees a strong representation from New York, celebrating the creative spirit of the city. A dedicated edition of Frieze Viewing Room will run parallel to the fair, through May 14, and will feature an expanded list of over 160 exhibitors, connecting international galleries and audiences unable to travel. As official automotive partner, BMW will provide dedicated shuttle vehicles for VIP guests.

Visitors to Frieze can also explore the latest work of artist collective Random International “Body / Light” presented by Arts Brookfield and Superblue at Manhatten West, in walking distance from the fair. The work is inspired by a year-long collaboration with BMW i and the precise, minimalist culture of their design group as well as the technologies enabling the electrification of mobility. More information is available at: manhattanwestnyc.com

The BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe represents the ultimate blend of craftsmanship, performance, luxury and innovation at the top of the BMW range. Joining its two-door coupe and convertible 8 Series siblings, the 8 Series Gran Coupe features the latest BMW technology and innovation, a choice of powerful six- or eight-cylinder BMW TwinPower Turbo engines, and BMW’s striking four-door Gran Coupe silhouette.

[wdeerfield]

so we just do photoshop and vinyl wraps now for art cars? it looks like a kid who found the photoshop filters. i stand corrected. they are not even wrapped real cars..

[cfm56d7b]

AI is still software which has been written by humans. So what was the learning data set used in this process?

[MrOhnoez]

Much better looking than the futura 2000 mess of an M2

[thaalrasha]

It's crap but still above the golden thurd thing they came up with.

[CCM11285]

I don't know if I would say masterpieces, but definitely artsy for sure

[cbertels]

Odd they didn't use the new grill design in these renders. :

[Zodiac]

After 'Golden Thunder' 8 series edition, I am pretty certain that only AI can save us all. We cannot count on the human designers any more

[wdeerfield]

they should use the same AI to process all the comments about the G8x grills and it should be used for the LCI design

[ntg44]

Hideous. This self indulging marketing crap is getting old.

[Masander]

Originally Posted by Zodiac

After 'Golden Thunder' 8 series edition, I am pretty certain that only AI can save us all. We cannot count on the human designers any more

This

[fndrsn]

Is it just me or is BMW marketing like....super cringey nowadays?

[vampire81]

where is the actual car?

[GerryM5]

Neat idea but it's just at the baby stage. It the not so far future car exteriors skins will be a canvas where A.I. colors and art forms will glow from the inside out. 🤡🤡🤡🤡

[Btyler227]

So they make a kaleidoscope image from the art? Yeah, my Apple Watch does that. Lots of hoopla over nothing really. Next, BMW marketing team.

[adc]

What irks me is what an incredible misnomer the term AI is, for the technology at hand. And the end results support that.

[Tacoma]

Originally Posted by cbertels

Odd they didn't use the new grill design in these renders. :

They will soon... as part of the Looney Tunes art series with BMW as Bugs Bunny.

[Artemis]

Human Intelligence (H.I.): Jeff Koons BMW M3 GT2 (2010)

[Tacoma]

Originally Posted by adc

What irks me is what an incredible misnomer the term AI is, for the technology at hand. And the end results support that.

Where's the misnomer? Most AI algorithms are still in early infancy in most areas of application. In this case, the result doesn't look out of place to modern abstract art. Someone just paid over $69 million for a piece digital art at Christie's and at least one other bidder said he would've paid more but the bidding window closed, so there's money to be made.

In a way, art is an expression of data and data is something computers do, so it's an area that could be explored by AI. Apparently, it works by downloading millions of pics that the computer uses this data as the basis for creating original artwork. More per video below. Quite interesting.

[Karmic Man]

Art is an expression of emotions and feelings

Without emotions, feelings and sensory there can be no art

[ADEe92]

These aren't necessarily bad, but in the tradition of the art cars, if they are serious about them fitting in with their own traditions then they should be built not rendered - the robotic paint brush would be a cool application of AI.

That said, I prefer the Koonz art car!

I've always liked the original Andy Warhol art car too:

[LemonOne]

I am digging the black and white theme