Stella Clarke and Esther Mahlangu working on the BMW i5 Flow Nostokana project in South Africa
Art and innovation unite with the color-shifting i5 Flow Nostokana art car—a moving canvas which simultaneously performs BMW’s latest tech and exhibits the distinctive artwork of Esther Mahlangu. On show at this year’s Frieze Los Angeles art fair, the concept vehicle premiers the carmaker’s cutting-edge color-changing technology for vehicle surfaces, enabling sections of the attached film to be electronically animated so that the i5 electric car seamlessly transforms its white surfaces into a moving gallery.
The i5 Flow Nostokana (named after Mahlangu’s first son) has been timed to coincide with the artist’s first retrospective, Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu, which opened earlier this month at the Iziko Museums of South Africa in Cape Town and plans to travel to other destinations including the US.
The BMW i5 Flow Nostrokana side-by-side the Esther Mahlangu BMW 525i Art Car
This is not the first time BMW has partnered with the celebrated South African artist. In 1991, the marque commissioned Mahlangu to paint a BMW 525i Art Car, which later competed at 24 Hours of Le Mans racing. The commission also marked the first time a woman, and indeed an African artist took part in the series that includes art world heavyweights: Alexander Calder, David Hockney, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, to name a few. Later, BMW worked with Mahlangu on the dashboard design of one of the special-edition 7-Series. The i5 Flow pays homage to these art cars.
Electronically animated sections of film are applied across the roof, bonnet, rear section and on ... [+]
At 88, Mahlangu is a national treasure, her work widely recognized and in private collections worldwide. She works within the centuries-old Ndebele art tradition practiced by the Ndebele people of South Africa and Zimbabwe. These hand paintings are typically created using delicate feathers and natural pigments. Ndebele artists paint on various surfaces, on walls, houses, clothing, pottery, textiles, and the shapes and colors can carry cultural readings, reflecting social status and spiritual beliefs within the community.
Mahlangu’s work stands out among her contemporaries for its unique, imaginative abstract designs and vivid color combinations. She works straight from imagination, drafting these precise geometric shapes without the aid of rulers or masking tape, and the thick black lines that are a defining feature in her work echo traditional Ndebele beadwork. Early on in her career, Mahlangu adopted acrylic paint for a more expansive color palette, and she has worked with wall-size canvas to evolve her designs further.
Esther Mahlangu's artwork surrounding the BMW i5 Flow Nostokana color-changing art car
“Her art inspired me years ago, back when the concept of color change on a car was just an idea in my head,” says Stella Clarke, research engineer at BMW Group Open Innovation and in charge of the i5 Flow project. “Now, being able to realize this idea, and work with Esther Mahlangu, is absolutely surreal.”
The BMW i5 Flow evolves technologies first explored in the 2022 and 2023 iX Flow and Vision Dee study cars to represent a giant leap in color-change innovation. To put it in context, the iX was limited to black and white, while Vision Dee was able to display just 32 colors. The i5 Flow, on the other hand, is fitted with as many as 1,349 sections of film, each individually controlled for an exact color match and accurate design compositions.
Esther Mahlangu's signature and famous quotes appear on the BMW i5 Flow Nostokana
With the artist’s approval, Clarke and her team from the BMW headquarters in Munich chose designs from the collection which would work best with the color-changing technology on the i5 project. They added Mahlangu’s signature and chosen text from some of her more well-known sayings to help bring the project to life. “We used to paint in black and white; now I can paint in all colors,” reads one quote.
E Ink, a pioneer of electronic paper display technology, helped BMW with the laser cutting process and the electronic control design. The key is the versatility of the electrophoretic color change. Sections of the electronically-animated film are applied across the roof, bonnet, rear section and on the car body sides. Clarke compares the tech to an e-book reader, where there are several million microcapsules in each E Ink film, with the structure and arrangement of the color particles changeable through applying an electric voltage. This allows the colors and patterns of Mahlangu’s art to be generated in constantly changing compositions and enables the disappearing effect that is so unique to this car.
The artist Esther Mahlangu at work one one of her wall-size paintings
Meanwhile, Clarke’s team employed origami techniques for the design to work with the i5’s curvy body and limited themselves to surfaces that were not too complex in shape. “With this car, we’re going towards a more realistic solution, with great resolution, seamlessness and block colors,” says Clarke. “The design suddenly appears on a white car surface, and the color-changing layers are sealed and protected from the elements.”
The final touch is the sound design to bring the animation to life. The work of BMW’s creative director for sound Renzo Vitale, it mixes sequences from Mahlangu’s voice and the sound of her feather brushes applying paint to surface, color pencils against paper and the acoustic signal heard as feedback when operating the i5 touch display. And it begins softly, intensifying as the colors begin to surface and evolve.
South African artist Esther Mahlangu standing in front of some of her wall paintings at her home in ... [+]
“It is fascinating to me to see how modern technology can expand my art and make it accessible to a completely new audience,” says Mahlangu. Clarke believes the i5 Flow represents a big step in the future of cars. “We’re ‘prototypers’ and we like to build ideas. But this is very realistic going forward. In terms of production, we’re not far off,” she says, adding: “There is something magical about something happening on the exterior of a car; it’s more unexpected. And you share with the public.”
Watch the car come alive here:
See Stella Clarke explain the technology behind the i5 Flow concept:
The i5 Flow Nostokana is at Frieze LA until March 3, 2024. “Then I Knew I Was Good at Painting: Esther Mahlangu” will be at the Iziko Museums of South Africa until August 11, 2024, after which is begins its global tour, stopping first at the Wits Art Museum in Johannesburg, before moving to the US in early 2026. The 20th BMW Art Car by Julie Mehretu will be presented on May 21, 2024.
Read about other car/art collaborations: BMW at Frieze London here, and the Bentley Belonging here.
