Lexus invites creatives to experience its new immersive art installation at this year’s Milan Design Week. Presented under the theme Time, the show for 2024 features original works by international artists and is on public display in Tortona, Milan’s world-respected creative district. It captures our vision of how the application of software and energy innovations will help cars of the future deliver new possibilities for customers and enable luxury to co-exist with carbon neutrality.
The exhibition features work by two designers inspired by the next-generation Lexus LF-ZC battery electric concept.
‘Beyond the Horizon’ by Hideki Yoshimoto
This interactive installation by Lexus Design Award winner Hideki Yoshimoto and his Tangent studio offers an artistic representation of a future where mobility experiences are tailored to the individual through digital dialogue between car and user.
The designer blends state-of-the-art technology with time-honoured Japanese craftsmanship. A 30-metre-long projection screen is used to display changing vistas of the horizon, punctuated by a line of two-metre-high sculptures, each of which emits unique lighting effects to create different atmopsheres. The material of the huge projection screen draws on the 1,500-year heritage of using shoji screens to divide rooms, except that instead of traditional washi paper Yoshimoto has fabricated the screen from bamboo fibres. This material is widely used in the LF-ZC’s interior and is a subtle reminder of Lexus’s respect for and application of takumi skills. The Lexus LF-ZC is positioned at the centre of the work, symbolising innovation and future mobility.
The installation is produced in collaboration with musician Keiichiro Shibuya, who composed an accompanying piece called Abstract Music to immerse visitors in sound as well as light. Sound images are generated in real time from a vast catalogue of recorded data, with playback randomly shuffled around 31 speakers throughout the venue. No two moments are the same, as the sounds endlessly evolve.
The changing of the horizon from dawn to dusk, with the LF-ZC as the guide to the future, combines with the sculptures and music to create a personalised and immersive experience.
‘8 Minutes and 20 Seconds’ by Marjan van Aubel
First seen at last year’s Miami Art Week, this popular installation by solar designer Marjan van Aubel expresses our commitment to advancing innovation in carbon-neutral mobility by incorporating solar power, technology and luxury. The work features a lifesize representation of the LF-ZC concept and uses solar energy captured by organic photovoltaic cells and stored in built-in batteries. The aim is to reflect our potential synergy with the natural environment, making the visitor an active participant in this vision of the future.
Named after the time it takes light to reach the earth from the sun, the installation imagines the LF-ZC positioned among holographic trees and a reflective seating area, set against the backdrop of an interactive sun. This sun changes colour when visitors touch a sensor made from a new bamboo fabric developed by Lexus and applied within the LF-ZC’s interior. The sensor sends a signal that triggers a personal sunrise for each person, accompanied by natural sounds such as the rustling of bamboo.
‘Time’ at Milan Design Week 2024
Explaining the concept around Time, Lexus chief branding officer Simon Humphries commented: “Lexus has always challenged the conventions of automotive luxury, working to expand the horizons of its products and services to create experiences that surpass its customers’ expectations.
“[This installation] comes from our belief that experience and time are inseparable concepts. Time is not something that simply passes; it’s the starting point of all special experiences. Lexus has a firmly human-centred philosophy, and we believe that providing people with unique experiences, in an age when technology will allow cars to anticipate and evolve with the customer, begins with exploring the relationship between people and time itself.”
The Lexus installation Time is on public view at the following address until 21 April 2024:
Art Point and Art Garden, Superstudio Più, via Tortona 27, Milan, Italy
