BMW's "Pulse Topology" Art Basel Exhibit in Partnership with Superblue Miami
BMW will present Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s immersive art installation “Pulse Topology” at the Superblue Miami center in Allapattah, where the artist's interactive pulse treatment in the first-ever, fully electric BMW i7 will also be on view from November 28 to December 4, 2022. As a global partner of Art Basel for 18 years at shows in Basel, Miami Beach, Hong Kong and Paris, BMW will once again offer a VIP car service for attendees.
Experience Rafael Lozano-Hemmer: “Pulse Topology” and the interactive art environment inside the BMW i7:
· Dates: 11/28 – 12/4
· Location: Superblue Miami (1101 NW 23 Street, Miami, FL 33127)
· Monday-Thursday, 11am-7pm
· Friday-Saturday, 10am-8pm
· Sunday, 10am-7pm
Since its launch in 2002, Art Basel in Miami Beach has served as a dynamic platform uniquely bridging the art scenes of North and South America, Europe, and beyond. The edition marking its 20th anniversary will be the largest to date, featuring 282 exhibitors from 38 countries and territories. In addition to its Galleries, Positions, Nova, Survey, and Edition sectors, the fair will host 20 large-scale projects as part of the Meridians sector, 29 curated installations within exhibitors’ booths in the Kabinett sector, as well as nine panels with leading art world voices in its renowned Conversations series.\
On the occasion of Art Basel’s show in Miami Beach, BMW i presents an off-site activation together with Superblue: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's immersive art installation “Pulse Topology”. This collaboration invites visitors to enjoy the poetry of a human-centric approach to technological innovations and can be experienced at Superblue Miami from November 17, 2022 - August 2023. The exhibition will be augmented by an interactive experience presented by BMW inside the all-new fully electric BMW i7 from November 28 - December 4, 2022, during Art Basel in Miami Beach.
Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Superblue and BMW i share a vision of a sustainable future, where art and technology can create human experiences for retreat, reflection, joy, and social connection. A foremost principle for BMW i is creating a new understanding of luxury in an era that will be shaped by groundbreaking innovations in the fields of sustainability and digitalization. Central to this reinterpretation is the BMW i7 which has inspired the collaboration. “Over the past 50 years, BMW has collaborated with some of the most creative and inspiring artists in the world,” said Marcus Casey, Vice President of Marketing, BMW of North America. “These engagements are more than just a way to showcase our brand, but an opportunity to authentically engage with new audiences.” Casey continued: “We are thrilled to work with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Superblue Miami to present an artistic extension of Pulse Topology in the all-new BMW i7 during Art Basel in Miami Beach this year.” With this presentation, BMW i and Superblue build on their collaborative work at the junction of immersive experiences, art, and technology. Forming a platform for self-representation, in “Pulse Topology” individual heartbeats come together to create an immersive chorus of light and sound. Translating an interior force to an exterior form, Lozano-Hemmer makes tangible the otherwise invisible register of the heartbeat, which glows and then fades in the spirit of a memento mori. Lozano-Hemmer’s visionary application of biometrics in new, unexpected contexts reveals the creative potential of cross-disciplinary collaborations between the spheres of art and science. "Superblue is thrilled to continue our collaboration with BMW i in bringing Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Pulse Topology to Miami as part of our Suspension Program. Lozano-Hemmer's fascination with the relationship between art and technology to create a sustainable future for discovery and community engagement is thoughtfully reflected in this exhibition," said Superblue Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Mollie Dent-Brocklehurst. "By visualizing the invisible, the human heartbeat, participants are able to see something that can only be felt, creating a moment of social connection that is intimately human," adds Dent-Brocklehurst. “Pulse Topology” is composed of 3,000 lightbulbs suspended at different heights, creating a series of crests and valleys – an intimate landscape that visitors are invited to traverse. Each lightbulb glimmers to the pulse of a previous participant. Custom-made pulse sensors record visitors’ new heartbeats; when a participant interacts with the installation, their pulse is added to the canopy of recordings above them, replacing the oldest recording. Forming a platform for self-representation, in “Pulse Topology” individual heartbeats come together to create an immersive chorus of light and sound. Translating an interior force to an exterior form, Lozano-Hemmer makes tangible the otherwise invisible register of the heartbeat, which glows and then fades in the spirit of a memento mori. Inspired by conversations with BMW engineers and designers, Lozano-Hemmer and his studio will harness the technology behind “Pulse Topology” to visualize visitors’ heartbeats through light, sound, and graphics as they sit inside the first-ever fully-electric BMW i7 sedan. This symbiotic relationship can be seen as an extension of the i7’s use of light to create a meaningful connection with its driver.