Are you ready for the future?

In the beginning of November in a secret location in Aarhus, people were driven on a trip to the future by the British group Blast Theory – more precisely to the fictitious city ‘Aarhull’ in the year 2097. We have spoken to branch manager Søren Vinderslev from Bayern Autogroup Aarhus, that supplied the cars for the event, about the thought-provoking experience and about the future in a business under transformation.

In ‘Aarhull’ cities are destroyed and rebuild anew, conscience is transferrable and three teenagers are the rulers. This is the background for the dystopian performance 2097: We Made Ourselves Over. The British artistic group Blast Theory is famously known for creating events, that challenge visions of the future and the sense of reality using the internet, performance and digital transmissions. This was also the case for the event in Aarhus created in collaboration with European Capital of Culture Aarhus 2017 and UK City of Culture Hull 2017, which is the largest event Blast Theory so far have created. 2097: We Made Ourselves Over was ground-breaking in both shape and expression, as the group drew on both theater, technology, performance and sound, which together gave the experience of being on a journey to the future. For participants and other interested parties, it was possible to download an app with interactive videos, where you could communicate with the main character Hessa. The app functioned both as background information about the event and the story, but was also thought to act as a catalyst for one’s own preliminary thoughts on the future.

The journey to the future began with participants being collected at O’Space in BMW-cars and driven to a secret venue in Aarhus, where they equipped with a GPS, wearing a white overcoat and guided by Hessa’s voice, had to find a person before time ran out. Bayern Autogroup not only delivered the cars, that drove the participants to the future, but branch manager Søren Vinderslev also participated in the premiere. He explains: “An experience such as this, where you are in contact with an artistic brain, is an experience, where you have an opportunity to stop and have thoughts, that you otherwise wouldn’t have – and that makes it exciting.”

The recurring theme of the event was reinvention and rediscovery. Hessa and the two responsible girls guaranties a fresh start by destroying and rebuilding cities in new locations every 50. year. To Søren Vinderslev it was an interesting reflection with several parallels to BMW and Bayern Autogroup’s work: “A word, which is actually very interesting with We Made Ourselves Over in mind, is, that we have a need for agility in the way we are and the way we are perceived. We also have a need for agility in relation to our customers, and the products we present to our customers. We can’t continue as a train on tracks. We should be able to maneuver and within a relatively brief time span be able to brake and shift directions.“

BMW has this year for the 11. time been named as the most sustainable car brand by Dow Jones Sustainability Index. BMW’s attitude towards sustainability is consistent throughout the entire production, from using wind power in the production in the factory in Leipzig to using water power in the production of carbon parts for the electric car, BMW i3. Today, 95% of old BMW cars are recycled and the remains from the production of new cars are down to 8 grams. According to Søren, the future of BMW only looks greener, but at the same time there will be an even higher degree of customization for the consumer. “We will see a consolidation of a greener production. We have an idea of what the consumers want and also an idea of what the technology can offer us, but from there, there can be so many things, which we simply cannot predict – there are many parallels into Blast Theory about an exciting future and a future with a need for us being able to adapt. And that might also be why, the characters choose to say: To be sure that we continuously adapt ourselves, then we have to start over sometimes.”

For Bayern Autogroup the collaboration with Blast Theory and Aarhus 2017 has been an interesting and unique experience. Søren Vinderslev says: “Aarhus is the Capital of Culture, that we are proud of and are happy to contribute to. 2097: We Made Ourselves Over has been a project of interest, which we are also happy to contribute to. It has been a great opportunity of being involved in a project, that is putting Aarhus on the international map.”

Read more about 2097: We Made Ourselves Over here.

Read more about Bayern Autogroup Aarhus here.