The 21st edition of Art Basel Miami Beach is now in the books – a whirlwind week of parties, dinners, DJ sets, brand collaborations, product launches, restaurant openings and, fortunately, great weather. But at the center of it all, of course, was the art – presented in every form all throughout the Magic City.
Not surprisingly, Artificial Intelligence featured prominently at this year’s Art Basel (where have you gone NFT art?), and this hot new art genre was at the center of one of my most memorable experiences during this year’s fair – titled, rather fittingly, REMEMBR. This AI-powered participatory video installation was a unique collaboration between renowned LA-based contemporary artist Alex Israel and BMW, a longtime sponsor of the arts in general and Art Basel in particular, in large part to promote its new fully electric BMW i5 sedan.
I have had the pleasure of meeting Alex through mutual friends throughout the years and have always loved the way he uses his art to show how he sees the world around him. Israel’s work, which includes paintings, sculptures, and mixed-media installations, often explores the intersection of pop culture, art, and technology – and so his involvement with BMW on this AI project was an ideal fit, synergistic well beyond the artist’s fortuitous initials.
“I was really interested in doing a project with artificial intelligence. I was trying to figure it out… and then I got a call from BMW asking if I want to do a project with artificial intelligence for Art Basel Miami Beach? And I said, ‘Yes, actually I do!’ We decided to jump in the deep end, and here we are. I went to Munich and met with the head designer at BMW, Domagoj Dukec, and he showed me this new all-electric BMW i5.”
Incorporating artificial intelligence in a variety of ways, the electric BMW i5 “played a significant role in the conception of this project,” said Israel. “I always say that my real studio is my car. I get most of my ideas while I’m driving around LA and my memories stream and fuse with my imagination to bear new ideas as the radio shuffles and the city passes me by.”
“There are a lot of things about the car that are really interesting to me, that I felt aligned with. One of them is that when you are in the car you can select from a series of atmospheric, environmental modes called My Modes – there’s one for sport, there’s one for expression, there’s one for relaxation. When you pick one of these modes, all the colors in the car change, and they are really meant to elevate your mood, enhance your experience. BMW and I see eye to eye on this… color can really enhance and change your mood and your vibe.”
For the REMEMBR installation, Israel sought to embody the intersection of humans and
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When the temperatures are dropping across the US and you’ve made it through the stress of the holidays, you may find yourself in desperate need of a vacay. But when it comes time to look at flights, and maybe trip packages, you may notice something when you start to type “D-o-m” into the search bar: instead of flights to the Dominican Republic, you see flights to Dominica. Maybe you’ve heard of the island, or maybe it’s your first time — or maybe you didn’t even know that Dominica and the Dominican Republic were two different countries.
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