INFINITI : shinji nukumi wins digital art competition

‘infiniti passion’ by shinji nukumi, on show at the stockport infiniti center which opened in october 2011 image © mike dodd

INFINITI luxury performance automotive brand, is pleased to announce the winner of ‘inspired performance’, the first theme of their international digital art competition. japan-born, shinji nukumi, triumphed at the evening’s launch on march 22nd of europe’s 50th INFINITI centre in marseille, south of france. the digital artist, who collaborated with the japanese NBBR design consultancy, scored the majority of the votes cast by guests during the opening ceremonies of europe’s newest INFINITI retail outlets from the installations presented by the category’s six finalists.

the 37-year old from tokyo was awarded a prize of EUR10,000 for his outstanding installation entitled ‘infiniti passion’, by bernard loire, INFINITI ‘s vice president of europe and the middle east, before the evening’s 500 VIPs. they included stars from the olympique de marseille football team, french media, fellow contenders, as well as the INFINITI contest’s global partner, designboom.

shinji nukumi portrait © designboom

‘infiniti passion’ by japanese designer shinji nukumi + NBBR the winning artwork is a design composed of a series of eye-catching projections on to an INFINITI G coupé model, which focuses on the ‘inner’ dimension of the car in order to be able to see the potential of the marque. hidden projectors above and alongside the vehicle make fire, rocks, rain, water, construction parts, paint, and leaves appear to be cascading into the car’s body, filling its interior. all of these elements hold some material or symbolic connection to the ‘inspired performance’ underlying the construction of an INFINITI car.

see shinji’s original submission to the competition, or see more photographs of ‘infiniti passion’ in designboom’s article about the infiniti gallery and showroom opening in stockport, UK.

video of ‘infiniti passion’ and interview with designer shinji nukumi

winning designer nukumi shinji accepting his award

interviews with shortlisted designers nukumi shinji, jan ziska, juraj rattaj and jackson tayler video © designboom

commenting on the ceremony celebrating the first theme of the infiniti digital art competition, jean-pierre diernaz, a jury member for ‘inspired performance’, and marketing director of INFINITI europe, said: ‘we would like to congratulate shinji nukumi and NBBR on his remarkable achievement for which he should be proud. the contest has so far been a veritable success, and we have brought hidden talent to the forefront of the public eye through exploring the ‘inspired performance’ philosophy which lies at the heart of our brand. the contest revealed works of exceptional quality and clearly underlines the creativity and passion for art which exists across the globe. this is a solid foundation for which to continue building this truly international digital art competition.’

winner shinji nukumi, added: ‘perhaps no other competition evokes a sense of possibility more than the INFINITI competition. the hosting of these events and the prototyping of our artwork has been a lot of work and involved great talent and passion for art. I personally would like this competition to be held with vigor for years to come, as a medium through which artists around the world can express themselves.’

531 designers from 71 countries had participated in this first edition of the competition and last fall on designboom we showcased the six shortlisted designs. from these six projects, one final winner was selected by popular vote, based on an online and on-site voting held after these exhibitions.

the 6 finalists are:

‘infiniti passion’ design by nukumi shinji + NBBR from japan ‘value added’ design by jan ziska + juraj rattaj from slovak republic ‘crystalline dna’ design by brano hlavac from slovak republic ‘highway of light’ design by bob trempe + roman torres from USA ‘synthesised by nature’ design by jackson tayler from UK ‘presence’ design by sanchit sawaria + palash singh from india

jackson tayler in front of his artwork image © designboom

shortlisted entry ‘synthesised by nature’ by jackson tayler (UK), on show during the awards ceremony

jan ziska + juraj rattaj image © designboom

‘value added’ by jan ziska + juraj rattaj image © designboom

shortlisted entry ‘value added’ by jan ziska + juraj rattaj (slovak republic), on show during the awards ceremony

clockwise from left: the shortlisted designers juraj rattaj with jan ziska, shinji nukumi, jackson tayler, and cirque du soleil performer

the three shortlisted designers whose work was on show– nukumi shinju, juraj rattaj, and jackson tayler – were all in attendance, amidst jury panel members and VIPs from throughout france and europe.

visitors to the official inauguration of INFINITI centre marseille equally enjoyed an exclusive performance from members of the cirque du soleil cast.

nukumi shinji with bernard loire vice president of infiniti europe and the middle east

nukumi shinji with jean pierre diernaz, marketing director of INFINITI europe, middle east, india, and africa

also on show were new infiniti cars, including the limited edition FX that F1 world champion sebastian vettel helped design (covered in detail by designboom here).