A joint initiative between BMW and Frieze to bring together art, design and technology.

In 1962 the philosopher Umberto Eco wrote an essay called ‘The Open Work’. Informed by the writings and music of Franz Kafka and James Joyce, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Pierre Boulez, Eco argued that not all artworks had a definitive meaning. Rather, some artists might embrace the idea of ‘openness’, leaving certain elements of the artwork to chance, or to be completed by the audience. Meanings could be multiple, the conversation could always be open-ended.

Inspired by Eco’s idea, BMW Open Work annually invites an artist to develop an ambitious project. Drawing on dialogue with BMW designers, engineers and technological experts, artists will be able to consider current and future technologies as tools for innovation and artistic experimentation, creating artworks with the potential to unfold across a range of media and exhibiting platforms. BMW Open Work was previously curated by Attilia Fattori Franchini.

The project premieres yearly at Frieze London and is presented in the space of the BMW Lounge as well as digitally via sound, video or online platform.

SARA SADIK, 2023
Nikita Gale 2022

Nikita Gale's work proposes to restage the design process sixty years later, connecting the industries of speed and sound.

Madeline Hollander, 2020 - 2021

Madeline Hollander's work is inspired by everyday movements observed in our social, urban, technological, and natural environments, which she transforms into site-specific installations and performances

Camille Blatrix, 2019

Camille Blatrix’s sculptures are interjected with coded references, creating emotionally charged, uncanny objects that offer new relational possibilities

Olivia Erlanger, 2017

Olivia Erlanger’s work investigates how the different kinds of collapse in economics and ecologies influence the recent fracturing of identity