BMW has responded to the furor surrounding Chris Bangle's inadvertently inappropriate "axis of white power" remark by yanking the original video (which is now on YouTube) and allowing the designer to answer charges of racial insensitivity on BMW-web-tv. Bangle warms-up by telling us how much he loves car design: "I believe design is about the human contribution to our culture" (as opposed to?). Next, Bangle has a message for those of us who share a distaste for his over-wrought designs: wake up! "When anyone… moves the whole design language forward and puts a cutting edge to what had maybe been a little bit of an industry asleep, then certainly there's going to be some controversy. Some people are not going to wake up maybe as gently as they would have liked to." Zzzzz. Huh? What? I LOVE IT! Anyway, the main event. Without repeating the remark (as if), the interviewer asks Bangle about the allegation that "your statement was very racial [sic]." "I was shocked," Bangle says, looking shocked. "Seriously shocked and extremely… disturbed by what was really a statement about some great cars at a car show… I made a statement about those cars [M-Power cars] with that color [white] and now I've seen that this has been taken into a complete political context. I would never support any type of political activism on that level and on that subversive bent." So, no idea of what the Hell he was talking about and no apology for his slip of the tongue or BMW's inability to foresee the offense his remark could cause, or has caused. Again, BMW clings to the belief that they never make mistakes (iDrive?), even when they do.
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“I believe design is about the human contribution to our culture” (as opposed to?). Next, Bangle has a message for those of us who share a distaste for his over-wrought designs: wake up! “When anyone… moves the whole design language forward and puts a cutting edge to what had maybe been a little bit of an industry asleep, then certainly there’s going to be some controversy. Some people are not going to wake up maybe as gently as they would have liked to.”
Wow. Who would have thought he would be so modest.
I just thought he was someone who designed ugly cars. Who knew he was responsible for moving human culture forward?
If you take his statements literally, both the original one, and the one above, there is no NEED for an apology. It is only when you twist the words into the political definition you impose on them do they become inflammatory.
If an apology is needed it should only be for a poor choice of words.
–chuck
http://chuck.goolsbee.org
He should be a politician after his car designing days are over. Filibustering seems to be 2nd nature for him.
He said “a whole lot of nothing.” As a black man, I’ll run and hide from white BMW’s from now on in.
Oh snap! I gotta go to Bonn next month! NOOOOooooo…..
Bangle certainly doesn’t favor clean concision any more in his English than he does in his design. Do any of those pull quotes even mean anything at all?
I guess they just don’t mind being perceived as arrogant. Perhaps it goes with the products and the way they are supposed to be driven.
There was this guy at the BMW stand in Frankfurt who, during the introduction of the 1-series Coupe, shouted at the press hordes: “I really, really ask you to go away now!”. He apparently didn’t believe in the word “please”, even though it would have been more effective.
What was it that Clarkson said about BMWs?: “SS staff cars”… Of course, that is more than overblown. But he had a point when he said that while alpha males drive BMWs, nice people drive Alfa Romeos.
I think I know what is good and right and wrong, or who’s doing what they think is the trouble with Bangle’s foolishness, you know, and I’m sure!
The luxury car business is all about perception and image.
That’s why I think BMW was right to go with Bangel’s designs.
You have to stand out.
If I’m buying a car not just as basic transportation, I don’t want something Vanilla.
If BMW would go for Vanilla looks it had less to set them apart from Lexus or any other luxury car maker.
I think this part of their attitude is good.
They want to lead and not follow or get stuck and endlessly repeat themselves. (the 3series is no Porsche 911)
The bad part of their attitude is their arrogance they think they are invincible.
That said the first Bangel 7series was a bit over the mark. (especially for the market it was intended for)
He could have just apologized for the misunderstanding. (that’s all it was) But I guess you can’t expect an are-tee-esst of his caliber to be straightforward on camera.
If only the new Camry didn’t have a Bangle-Butt there might be more ammo against his line of..umm… thinking. But that’s for another editorial.
Well, the BMW in the video sure wasn’t white, and neither were the other cars shown. I guess he was just imagining all the cars around him in that strong, pure Aryan white
Replying to Johnson Schwanz’s observation that Bangle “should be a politician after his car designing days are over”:
Based on Bangle’s comments and his cars, didn’t both those events happen already?
I’ve always liked the assessment of Bangle’s work that a car mag quoted from the anonymous design executive at a rival carmaker: “bloody goddamn incompetence.”
I’m only frustrated that the Japanese makes’ executives are always so desperate for the safety of imitation, they both ripped off the worst possible sheetmetal role model. If only they’d simply done a tasteful family sedan the way they already know how.
You’re right, tonycd, the Japanese can come up with very good stuff on their own – I think the styling of the TSX aka European Accord and TL are very underrated
In a similar vein to the innovative design of Projekthaus, BMW Group Design Director Chris Bangle, who joined the company in 1992, is responsible for redesigning the BMW range to meet the challenges of, and to set the agenda for, the 21st Century. His hallmarks are dramatic, stylised lines, curved surfaces and a sculptural bodyshape, and his range of influences somewhat broader than that associated with automotive designers: he cites Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, the work of Italian futurist painter and sculptor Umberto Boccioni, and the couture
designs of Coco Chanel as key influences.
this is an excerpt from the “secret life of cars” study of BMW UK. When I read it a while ago I was stuck by the fact, that a german car manufacturer grounding it’s design partly on the italian futurists whose are known for their collaboration with the italian fascist regime.
Bangle is an innovative artist, BMW took some risks with his designs, and lots of people seem to like them. His cars are distinctive and need no apology. They are not ugly. I like my ’02 325i, but I can see why someone else might like the newer version. Just a matter of personal preference, like house styles, clothing, etc.
I wonder how Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring assists his car design? As the saying goes, you can’t dance architecture. And which car manufacturer doesn’t claim to be delivering “sculptural” bodyshapes.
Agreed. A simple “my remark must have been taken out of context. This is not what I intended at all.” would have done. And the PR dept. got sloppy when it let that comment through in the original video.
cisperow, come on. Even a quick trip to Wikipedia will show you that (a) Boccioni died in 1916 and (b) politics of all kinds were associated with Futurism, and “collaboration” is a grotesque oversimplification. If you want to mock Bangle, mock him for being such a poseur that he needs to trot out these completely banal high-culture references to legitimize his car design (to the extent his inarticulate jabber is even comprehensible), not for being a crypto-fascist in any but the most Freudian-slippery way.
foobar
boccioni died before the rise of facism but is nonetheless related to the futurists wich… but read for your self
nah, i don’t want to mock hard. it’s just the co-incident that struck me… but more because of it’s a german company.
I feel sorry for Bangle sometimes. Without bold moves, car styling won’t change. The E46 is and remains an elegant shape but certainly looks dated beside the E90/91/92 machines even if not all like the modern look. I feel only the 7 series is a mis-step.
With respect to his comments and apology, the usual storm in a tea cup
If you want to mock Bangle, mock him for being such a poseur that he needs to trot out these completely banal high-culture references to legitimize his car design (to the extent his inarticulate jabber is even comprehensible)
I’m sure the connection is crystal clear to him and the people who applaud his efforts.
Without that, I don’t know how else you can say “Axis of White Power” on camera and not apologize for it. Maybe its an Art Center thing…after all, they are the high-culture of Transportation Design.