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 Friday July 25, 2008 |
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Z4 BY JOSHUA DAVIS: A DESIGN PROJECT AT THE LEADING EDGE |
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Written by Jeff Seabrook
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Wednesday February 22, 2006 |
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U.S. artist interprets the new BMW Z4 Coupé in computer-generated unique prints
Munich/New York. Artists love to venture along and even beyond the ragged edge, pushing the envelope as they work and progressively redefining what is possible. Just a few years ago, the design of the new BMW Z4 Coupé, for example, would have been considered impossible to build - the lines too extravagant, the panels too complex to manufacture. For New York-based designer Joshua Davis, feasibility problems are familiar ground: His works originate on the computer, and to date, they have been considered too complex to print. This common ground recently triggered a spell of close collaboration between Davis and BMW - giving rise to a limited edition of unique prints inspired by the new Z4 Coupé.
.jpg "Image")
Thousands of layers in each image.
34-year-old Davis is a pioneer of algorithmic graphic design. The prestigious locations where his works have been exhibited include the Tate Modern (London), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), and P.S.1 MoMA (New York). In the runup to the launch of the BMW Z4 Coupé in mid-2006, Davis will be producing three limited series of large-format, high-end color prints for BMW which, from today, can be ordered on a dedicated website. The pioneering aspect here is that each signed and numbered print has its own individual design - so each one is entirely unique.
Joshua Davis writes computer programs that deconstruct a defined reality and reconstruct it at random. Since 1995, his regenerative mode of composition has been giving rise to pictorial worlds never previously explored; worlds so complex that a human painter would need weeks, if not months, to create a single motif by hand. Even sophisticated hi-tech print shops will often throw in the towel faced with Davis's designs: "With up to 120,000 layers and 50,000 vectors, my artwork freaks printers out," confirms the artist and stresses that it's only with the help of complex post-editing techniques that actual prints can be produced.
Auto design meets graphic design.
The artist's main encounters with the BMW Z4 Coupé came at a time when the final design of the car was still a closely guarded secret. BMW Chief Designer Adrian van Hooydonk personally introduced Davis to the evolutionary design concepts and the new elements in BMW's design language on a visit to Munich. Inspired by what he had seen, the artist translated a number of views of the coupé and its components into a digital algorithm that now serves as the basis for the prints. In what was a highly complex process, countless codes had to be checked for viability in this project and others developed from scratch. Davis also selected geographic notes and scales from a German school atlas to act as a symbol of mobility in the prints. At the same time, the constant rotation of all the elements echoes the BMW logo, which originated as the graphic representation of a propeller. The artist also found room in the design process for personal preferences, such as the island-like elements that feature in most of his works and that give him away as a member of the fan community of the U.S. television series "Lost." .jpg "Image")
After three months of intensive effort, in January of this year, Davis gave the go-ahead for the printing process to start; a process that he supervises, print by print. "The printer in my New York studio is just three feet away from my desk and it's going to be keeping me very busy in the next few months," he says with a smile. Davis sees the Z4 project as very important for his work: "For the first time, I have a chance to transfer my artwork into the medium of print in an appropriate way," he says. "The production of series of prints in which each has its own unique design may seem like a paradox, but it neatly illustrates the creative potential of my regenerative programs." .jpg "Image")
Randomness as a basic principle.
Consequently, he doesn't consider the prints as design art in the conventional sense: "A print from this edition is not an autonomous motif, but a kind of frozen image of the high-speed workings of my program codes; an image consciously selected and edited by me, and only documented in this one-off print." The fact that no buyer can preview his or her personal print is not a drawback in Davis's, eyes but the logical conclusion of the overall concept. "The result is the process," he says, and the process is random. .jpg "Image")
"You could say that the new Z4 Coupé is one of our most thrilling vehicles right now," says Jan-Christiaan Koenders (Director Brand Communication BMW), "and in Joshua, we have engaged one the most radical artists of our age in what is a truly extraordinary form of collaboration! He has obviously developed some extremely innovative techniques for the creation of exceptional designs." .jpg "Image")
The results of this meeting of minds and machines can be viewed on a dedicated website at www.Z4byJD.com.
A short "making of" film provides further insight into how the prints are created, and the works themselves can be ordered in 24 x 44 inch format (60.96 x 111.76 cm). In the course of this project, Joshua Davis will be creating three different designs, each in a limited edition of (max.) 500 unique signed and numbered color prints. They retail at U.S.$280 per print (plus postage and packing, and any local taxes). .jpg "Image")
Comprehensive, high-resolution photo material can be downloaded from the PressClub at www.press.bmwgroup.com (search for: "Joshua Davis") and from the project website at www.Z4byJD.com.
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Last Updated ( Sunday February 26, 2006 )
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