"Wings of Imagination" - Mercedes-Benz Technology Art Exhibition was grandly unveiled tonight at 798 Creative Square in Beijing. Inspired by the Mercedes-Benz C 111 experimental car and the Vision One-Eleven concept car, the exhibition takes "Wings of Imagination" as the theme, and immerses itself in an artistic dialogue through time and space through a two-storey space layout, aiming to show Mercedes-Benz's innovative spirit of technology-enabled aesthetics and the courage to define the trend of the times, and interpret the beauty of technology and art.
Mr. Cai Guo-Qiang, an internationally renowned contemporary art master, and Mercedes-Benz have once again joined hands to present the world premiere of the first artistic fireworks drone show "Mirage", presenting a new perceptual experience by refracting the present through technology and art.
Since the creation of Mercedes-Benz One 137 years ago, Mercedes-Benz has never stopped innovating. Generations of Mercedes-Benz designers and engineers have broken the binary opposition between design and function, and constantly explored the boundaries of aesthetics, technology, safety, engineering technology, comfort experience and other fields, defining the trends of each era. From 1969 to 1979, the fourth-generation C 111 experimental vehicle applied the most cutting-edge technologies of the time, such as rotary engines and glass fiber reinforced plastic bodies, to be ahead of the times and implement the times, and personally verified the feasibility of mass production of each forward-looking technology, so it was known as the "laboratory on wheels".
The C 111 series test vehicle is designed for extreme speed, down to 0The ultra-low drag coefficient of 157 achieves a UFO-like avant-garde aesthetic at the same time. The Vision One-Eleven concept car combines stunning design with revolutionary electric drive technology, showcasing the beauty of retro innovation and revealing the path of future high-performance models. The two Icon models will be presented at this year's Technology & Art Exhibition, showcasing the blend of heritage and innovation, the symbiosis of technology and art, and interpreting the essence of Mercedes-Benz's "iconic luxury" brand with a dialogue spanning more than half a century.
Born more than half a century later, the Vision One-Eleven concept pays homage to the classic colours of the C 111 experimental car in a bronze dark orange livery and features a low, bow-shaped sports car-style body with sleek lines from start to finish, just like the wedge-shaped body of the C 111 experimental car, designed for extreme aerodynamics. The front and rear pixel-style displays not only continue the flat rectangular design with rounded corners of the C 111 experimental car, but also use digital technology to recreate its round fog lamps and taillights. The gullwing doors, derived from the 300 SL and C 111 test cars, have passed on the legendary beauty of Mercedes-Benz from generation to generation.
As a future-oriented high-performance sports car, the Vision One-Eleven concept depicts the extraordinary experience of a high-performance pure electric sports car in multiple scenarios in the intelligent era: on the one hand, it can bring the driver pure performance luxury aesthetics and driving pleasure in the electric era;On the other hand, thanks to the liberation of autonomous driving technology for the driver, as well as the flexibility brought by the excellent performance and light size of the Yasa axial flux motor and high-performance battery, it integrates the concept of "digital elegant seat" into the cockpit, with unprecedented interactive experience and open vision, allowing drivers and passengers to enjoy the comfortable travel experience of the car as a "third living space". It is equipped with a YASA innovative axial flux motor that is lighter, more compact, and has higher torque density, resulting in stronger power performance. With only one-third the volume and weight of today's radial flux motors, it can bring the performance of high-performance electric vehicles to new heights with three times the power density and two times the torque density.
Contemporary art master Cai Guo-Qiang has won many awards in the field of global art, and served as the chief visual art designer and chief fireworks designer of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Rooted in Eastern philosophy and contemporary social issues, he interprets and responds to local cultural histories in context, creating a dialogue between the viewer and the larger space around him. His famous gunpowder blasting art and large-scale installations are explosive, transcending the plane and moving freely between society and nature. At the 2022 Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX Technology Art Exhibition, Mr. Cai Guoqiang was commissioned by Mercedes-Benz to try to intersperse digital fireworks with real fireworks for the first time, presenting the digital fireworks work "Flowing Clouds".
Based on the common pursuit of technology and art, nature and humanity between the two parties, Mercedes-Benz and Cai Guoqiang joined hands again this year to interpret the evolution of style and define the trend of the times with a new exploration of art and technology.
On December 8, on the eve of the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cai Guo-Qiang Center for Contemporary Art in his hometown of Quanzhou, Cai Guo-Qiang used the sky as a canvas and gunpowder as a paintbrush to plug in the wings of imagination for artistic expression for the first time through drone innovative technology, integrating the evolution of the times, humanistic emotions, natural forces and innovative spirit into perception, creating an artistic fireworks drone show "Mirage", and its documentary image was also launched in the world on the opening night of the Science and Technology Art Exhibition on December 10. The work uses the prickly tree flower of Quanzhou City as the visual image, echoing the dark orange painting of the Vision One-Eleven concept car, and presenting the cultural icons of Quanzhou from ancient times to the present, like a beautiful mirage laid out in front of the world, artistically showing the future of the power system of high-performance pure electric vehicles represented by the Vision One-Eleven concept car in the process of digitalization, electrification and intelligence, and then reflecting the "harmonious coexistence of people, technology and nature" The trend of the times.
The "Once Upon a Time: The Trend of the Times" exhibition area on the negative floor of the exhibition interprets the C 111 experimental car, a masterpiece of technology and technology, from the four dimensions of aesthetic inspiration, scientific and technological creativity, exploration spirit, and dream inheritance, showing the leading posture of Mercedes-Benz technology and art in the historical process and defining the trend of the times.
In the "Just in Time, Trend of the Times" exhibition area on the first floor, the Vision One-Eleven concept car is combined with the drone fireworks works of internationally renowned contemporary artist Mr. Cai Guo-Qiang, in the trend of digitalization, electrification and intelligence, the beautiful future picture is reflected in the present through technology and art, and laid out in front of the audience.
"Wings of the Future" is an immersive experience that depicts the grandeur of the times rushing forward and the tide galloping. The combination of digital images and physical sand creates a "beach of the future", echoing Mr. Cai Guo-Qiang's marine fireworks work "Mirage", the Vision One-Eleven concept car standing at the "head of the tide", and the Yasa axial flux motor displayed in the space provide surging power comparable to racing cars in a compact size. For the foreseeable future, YASA axial flux motors will break new ground and lead the performance trend in the electric vehicle era.
The final space of the exhibition is called "Persimmon E", which combines artistic expression with Chinese culture, reflects the perfection of science and technology and the perfection of life, and sends the best wishes of Mercedes-Benz.
Science and art are two sides of the same coin. The ever-expanding science and technology provide a steady stream of inspiration for artistic aesthetics, inherit and innovate in the evolution of the times, and share the beauty of each other. The Mercedes-Benz C 111 & Vision One-Eleven Technology Art Exhibition will continue to be exhibited at 798 Creative Plaza in Beijing from now until December 17, empowering aesthetics with science and technology, spreading the wings of imagination, interpreting people's beautiful yearning and eternal exploration of technology and art, human beings and nature, moments and eternity, and meeting art in the deep valley of science and technology.