BMW art cars debuted today, using artificial intelligence (AI) software to generate new works of art. In conjunction with Frieze New York, the fair takes place in Manhattan from May 5 – 9, 2021.
Frieze New York has works of art from over 60 galleries, mainly located in New York. A viewing room with over 160 exhibitors runs through May 14, bringing together galleries worldwide, and audiences who can’t travel.
“The Ultimate AI Masterpiece”, is what they’re calling the virtual installation of BMW art cars, created by technologist Nathan Shipley of BMW’s ad agency, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, and Gary Yeh, a patron of the arts and founder of artDrunk.
Using NVIDIA’s StyleGAN AI, they cross-referenced over 50,000 images of artwork spanning 900 years. The question is whether it’s plagiarism no matter what fraction of a notable work of art you’ve used, or is it considered the equivalent of sampling, and therefore okay?
Besides culling centuries of art, the pair took what artists had produced for BMW previously. If there’s any of Roy Lichtenstein’s, or Andy Warhol’s, or Alexander Calder’s work, you won’t find it. AI whipped up new works, and it’s questionable if they’re ‘art’ at all.
This mash-up is a lot like taking Pavarotti, mixing it with Kid Rock, throwing in Kiss, and adding Taylor Swift.
The big question is what you think of AI-induced results projected onto a BMW 8 Series Gran Coupe.
BMW tried something different with limited attendance. Still, ugly is ugly, and that’s what they’ve served up this time around.
[Images: BMW]
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I get the feeling that the designs chosen for print were selected by humans, looking through a pool of “AI-generated” designs. If that is the case, this is basically a high-tech version of the “monkeys with typewriters” thought experiment. Now, if they let the AI rank and select the artworks, that would be a step more interesting. Still a function of human-designed code made to suit human preferences. (What are “machine preferences” after all?)
They should have had a Vincent Van Gogh model with only one rear-view mirror. See if anyone gets the joke.
That’s a DIY option, just like the original Van Gogh asymmetry.
Something not right about the grille. (Renal hypoplasia?)
Where’s the BMW art cars of Calder, Warhol or Lichtenstein? This AI generated work looks like some kind of pastiche that looks like a total mess.
These are crap, go back and look at the original art-cars – Warhol, Stella, Calder, Lichtenstein.
While art is subjective holding the Warhol car up as an example of not “crap” is rich.
What. The. F**k. is. This?