[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW Italia and Garage Italia Customs present the BMW i8 Futurism Edition

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BMW Press Release - May 16, 2016

The opening press conference for the presentation took place at the BMW Milano City Sales Outlet, with Sergio Solero, President and CEO of BMW Italia, and Lapo Elkann, President and Founder of Garage Italia Customs.

BMW Italia and Garage Italia Customs have created a special Edition model to celebrate the 50 years of BMW history in Italy. The Edition combines the icon of future mobility with the Italian art of Giacomo Balla. The car will run in the Mille Miglia 2016 following the BMW 328 driven by Sergio Solero, President and CEO of BMW Italy.

"Lampada ad Arco", the work of Giacomo Balla, is replicated on the car. The original painting hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It represents a street lamp powered by electricity under moonlight. The revolutionary color technique and the advent of electricity in the 1900s are strictly linked to the future technology of the BMW i8.

BMW i stands for visionary vehicle concepts and technologies and connected mobility services, as well as a new understanding of premium that is strongly defined by sustainability. BMW i is represented in 50 countries with the BMW i3 (electric car for metropolitan areas) and the BMW i8 (plug-in-hybrid sports car). The BMW i8 is the world’s best-selling hybrid sports car and represents an icon of future mobility.

"There was immediate synergy with BMW Italia" stated Lapo Elkann, President and Founder of Garage Italia Customs "the very first time we met for the i8 Futurism Edition project. Garage Italia Customs and the BMW brand both share, in fact, all the values connected to technology evolution and the continuous search for innovation in their specific sectors. The BMW i8 Futurism Edition is a practice of style. It gave the Garage Italia Customs Maestros a chance to celebrate a car which is projected towards the future of mobility. At the same time, it honours Italian art with Giacomo Balla, who is a prominent figure of the Futurism movement."

"The BMW i8 Futurism Edition," said Sergio Solero, President and CEO of BMW Italia, "represents the pairing of a sports car of the future with Italian creativity and art. For this occasion, we have devised a project with an important partner like Garage Italia Customs, one of the best specialists in car customization. This initiative is a perfect fit with the cultural program which, on the occasion of our celebration of the 50 years of BMW history in Italy, we have developed even further in order to witness to our commitment to and integration in the fabric of the country."

[Twitch Massacre]

Awesome, a confetti covered i8!

[Brookside]

Very cool. Balla's first version of Lampada was done over a hundred years ago. Nice linkage, I suppose.
Party like it's 1909.

[deemo319]

One would like to say it's cool, but I just can't do that.

It is old art that is put into a computer, and then made into a wrap for the car.

This is lame. There are thousands of artists in the world and they couldn't have selected a new up & coming artist or an established one with a reputation for pushing boundaries?

They put a wrap on an i8 and then the whoever they are put their logo on it?

This is not art, high school kids can do this. Where are the artists?

This was a missed opportunity to match old world skills of using the car as a canvas and good old artistic talent to paint the car to mesh futuristic ideals with old world skills.

[wdeerfield]

Originally Posted by deemo319

One would like to say it's cool, but I just can't do that.

It is old art that is put into a computer, and then made into a wrap for the car.

This is lame. There are thousands of artists in the world and they couldn't have selected a new up & coming artist or an established one with a reputation for pushing boundaries?

They put a wrap on a i8 and then the whoever they are put their logo on it?

This is not art, high school kids can do this. Where are the artists?

This was a missed opportunity to match old world skills of using the car as a canvas and good old artistic talent to paint the car to mesh futuristic ideals with old world skills.

Completely agree.. I was hoping to see it was really painted like the m1 years ago. at least the video showed the process. I appreciate the hard work but would have liked to see it done by hand and not use computers

[raysspl]

LOLL how about making Prototonic Red available already ASAP

[JasH]

Utterly hideous. If it was 1 April, I'd have thought it an April fool's joke.

Ridiculous. Pretentious. Hideous.

[MalibuBimmer]

Unfortunate. Looks like the artist threw up. Ugly.

[phoenixbmwlife]

If it was going to be painted on instead of the wrap they would have to sell only one.

[ericsi]

Ok, an i8 with a wrap? Big deal!

[jcpca356]

interesting but not my cup of tea...

[SGMDream]

Yea also not really digging it.