Lexus car uses art to show speed, rpm and hybridity

What is art?  Tolstoy said it is a means of union among men.  Fellini thought it was autobiography.  Oscar Wilde defined it as the most intense mode of individualism the world has seen.  Lexus, trying its hand at aesthetic philosophy, thinks art is motion.

In a promo for the Lexus IS 300h hybrid, that very philosophy flashes across the screen as art collector Walter Vanhaerent takes the wheel.  Information about his rpm, speed, and hybridity is sent to an on-board computer and then converted it into an image of Vanhaerent. If he uses the hybrid engine, his face is rendered in calming blues and greens.  If the petroleum engine is used, strong, bold brushstrokes shroud his portrait in darker colors.  The degree of abstraction is controlled by speed: the faster Vanhaerent drives, the more abstract his face becomes.

The Lexus Art is Motion project was made possible through collaboration between Lexus, a Belgium-based communication agency, and a Barcelonan multi-media artist.  Happiness Brussels, the communication agency, created the software that converts motion and engine data in artwork.  The company says the Art is Motion project is an example of what it calls Prototype R&D, meaning it is implemented and tested through direct customer experience.  The hope is that the software will be incorporated into Lexus’ car designs and then marketed for mainstream production.  In the meantime, Walter Vanhaerent is the lucky customer to try out the prototype and serve as the face of Lexus as the project draws attention in social and other forms of media.

Sergio Albiac, the Barcelonan artist who worked on the project, chose the style of brushstrokes, colors, and degree of realism that generate the images of Happiness Brussels’ software.  The resulting image is an interpretation of a pre-loaded portrait of the driver.  Thus Albiac sees the Art is Motion project as an artistic rendering of the interface between genetics and the environment.

Working with computer software isn’t new to Albiac.  His working process usually involves writing computer codes and then choosing the visual result that best fits his artistic goal.  In this particular project, the data changes with each run and therefore creates multiple results.  In fact, all the results are original works attributed to the artist.  Because of this, Albiac says it’s as if the Art is Motion project has given him technology as an artistic assistant.  The assistant is so good that it is able to clone Albiac’s creative process.

        What does this visually enchanting collaboration mean for art? Technology? Lexus?  The latter is a bit simpler to answer, as Lexus is auctioning off the modified car with bids starting at 45,100 euros.  But what about technology and art?  This artistically generative software is blurring the lines between the two.  The images created by this software describe the mechanics of motion.  But wait, that’s exactly what mathematical equations do for successful physicists (and struggling physics students) worldwide.  So are equations of motion art?  Are the brushstrokes and colors of Albiac science?  Let’s classify them both as technological surrealism.