A Tokyo-London artist duo built a mist-and-light installation called “SYMBIOSIS” for Contemporary Istanbul, and BMW wants you to know the new 7 Series facelift inspired it. The piece, created by Azusa Murakami and Alexander Groves under the name A.A. Murakami, sits alongside the flagship sedan at Tersane Istanbul from September 24 through 27.
The installation uses light, mist, bubbles, airflow, temperature shifts, and gravity to create an environment that never looks the same twice. BMW calls the underlying philosophy “Ephemeral Tech,” a blend of engineered structures and transient natural elements. It is not a painting. It is not a sculpture. It is a mood, apparently, and it changes by the minute.
BMW ties the whole thing to its Symbiotic Drive concept, the idea that driver and machine should function as a single organism rather than two separate entities. Technology anticipates. The car assists. The human and the machine converge. That is the pitch, and A.A. Murakami translated it into water vapor and LEDs.
This is not BMW’s first time mixing luxury sedans with gallery walls. The automaker has partnered with Art Basel for more than two decades and recently ran a 20-car VIP shuttle service at Frieze Seoul using 7 Series models. The Art Car program dates back to 1975. Art is deeply embedded in BMW’s marketing playbook, and the 7 Series has become the brand’s preferred canvas for blurring the line between showroom and gallery.
BMW insists the car is not just parked next to the installation as an expensive prop. The presentation supposedly incorporates the 7 Series’ design, technology, craftsmanship, and driving character into the experience itself. How exactly a sedan’s driving characteristics manifest in an art installation made of bubbles remains unclear. BMW did not elaborate.
The “SYMBIOSIS” piece first appeared at Art Basel in June 2026 before traveling to Istanbul. BMW’s Turkish partner, Borusan Otomotiv, facilitated the local showing and has a history of supporting contemporary art initiatives in the region. The 21st edition of Contemporary Istanbul provided the venue.
Strip away the press language and the project reveals what BMW is actually doing with the G70-generation 7 Series. The car competes against the Mercedes S-Class and the new Audi A8 in a segment where raw specifications alone no longer move metal. Every player in the full-size luxury space offers massage seats, enormous screens, and semi-autonomous driving features. Differentiation now lives in brand storytelling, emotional positioning, and cultural association.
Art fairs give BMW access to exactly the demographic it needs: high-net-worth individuals who buy on identity, not spec sheets. A light installation at Contemporary Istanbul reaches people who would never visit a dealership showroom but might spend fifteen minutes standing in mist next to a $120,000 sedan.
Whether “SYMBIOSIS” qualifies as serious contemporary art is a question for critics with credentials. Whether it qualifies as effective luxury marketing is easier to answer. BMW has been running this play for nearly fifty years, and the 7 Series keeps showing up in galleries, at fairs, and alongside artists whose names carry cultural weight.
The public gets four days with the installation. BMW gets another cycle of content linking its flagship to something more rarefied than horsepower and wheelbase numbers. A.A. Murakami gets a prominent commission backed by one of the world’s largest automakers. Everyone walks away with what they came for.
The only open question is whether the next 7 Series facelift will inspire a sculpture, a symphony, or a fragrance. At this rate, all three feel possible.
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