BMW | THE KINETIC SCULPTURE FOR THE BMW MUSEUM | 2009
714 Metal Spheres Turn Chaos Into Order Over Seven Minutes / BMW "THE KINETIC SCULPTURE"
At the entrance of the BMW Museum, 714 metal spheres hang in mid-air. At first it looks like nothing at all. But wait seven minutes, and the shape of a car appears.
The problem
When the BMW Museum reopened in 2008, ART+COM created this installation as its centerpiece. The goal was to show, live, the exact moment a design comes into being.
The insight
Design always starts from nothing. The idea of letting that raw, not-yet-formed "noise" stage play out physically in space, by moving a cluster of spheres around at random, is what makes this so striking.
The idea
714 spheres hang from thin wires attached to the ceiling, each one moved individually by its own motor. The scattered, noise-like cluster of spheres slowly resolves into geometric shapes, and finally converges into the silhouette of a car. This process repeats for five classic BMW models.
What happened
The piece won awards at the 2009 One Show Design, Clio Awards, D&AD, and Cannes Lions. Right after it was released, it reportedly became the most-watched video in YouTube's automotive category worldwide.
Afterthought
I always thought advertising was about "telling" something. This is about "experiencing" it instead. Watching 714 spheres slowly become a car over seven minutes still blows my mind.
Awards
- Cannes Lions Gold 2009
