The future in details – a collaboration between the BMW Group and Thomas Demand. Artist provides early insights into the BMW Vision M NEXT.

Munich. What does the new era of Sheer Driving Pleasure look like? That’s the question the BMW Vision M NEXT, preparing for its presentation in Munich in a few days’ time, seeks to answer. As part of a collaboration with the BMW Group, artist Thomas Demand has produced a series of photographs which pull back the covers on some early details of the car – without removing them completely. This is not the first time Demand and the BMW Group have got together. Back in 2000 the BMW Group commissioned Demand to create a piece for the prestigious AutoWerke collection, which saw 28 internationally renowned artists including Candida Höfer, Wolfgang Tillmans, Thomas Struth and Demand himself turn their attentions to the themes of cars and mobility. And now Demand has refocused his materials and medium of choice – papier, cardboard and photography – on a new subject area: the mobility of the future. 

“Like most artists, I’m fascinated by things we haven’t seen before, images still to be discovered. So I was delighted to accept the invitation of Adrian van Hooydonk and his team. I think the way I look at photography puts me in a good place to bring out essential, abstract elements. The M NEXT study is a highly complex vehicle whose radical design extends beyond the job description of an everyday model. A concept like this represents a very interesting opportunity for me to transport these ideas and future forms into the public consciousness.” Thomas Demand.

The new era of Sheer Driving Pleasure.

The shape and substance of future mobility are the forces behind both the BMW Vision iNEXT and BMW’s latest Vision Vehicle: the BMW Vision M NEXT. Where the BMW Vision iNEXT shows us the ways in which autonomous driving will change life on board our vehicles, the BMW Vision M NEXT demonstrates how technology can be harnessed to enhance driving pleasure. In the new age of mobility, intelligent technologies will fuel sporty driving and the person at the wheel will be turned into the ultimate driver.

Whether it’s the relaxation of EASE driving in the BMW Vision iNEXT or a dynamic BOOST experience at the helm of the BMW Vision M NEXT, in both cases people – and their emotions and needs – take centre stage, design and technology enriching the desired driving experience. 

“When we reveal a new vehicle, there are myriad overall views at play. This time we’re taking a new approach and presenting a selection of artworks ahead of the car’s unveiling. The photos are fascinating and tell their own story. They are very close to the BMW Vision Vehicle and yet completely abstract, pure art. They will only become tangible when you set eyes on the Vision Vehicle itself.” Adrian van Hooydonk, Senior Vice President BMW Group Design.

Down to details.

Thomas Demand and Adrian van Hooydonk hold one another in high regard and regularly take time to discuss all things urban and future mobility-related. It therefore made sense for the BMW Group to give Demand a sneak preview of the BMW Vision M NEXT and invite the inspiration to flow. The artist duly picked out various details and created paper and cardboard models based on them. These provided the focal point for the photographs that followed. Demand’s concept here is based on the actual colour scheme and visual forms of the BMW Vision M NEXT. However, he zooms in so closely on the surface of the vision vehicle that his paper and cardboard models become removed from the subject matter at hand. His endeavours are encapsulated in four works which stay very close to the details of the BMW Vision M NEXT and yet also represent abstract photographic art. Audiences will have to wait until the presentation of the BMW Vision M NEXT in Munich later this month to see the art fleshed out into tangible reality