In collaboration with BMW, Salta art presents the screening of Crash (2023), a film by Rio de Janeiro–based artist Gabriela Mureb, followed by a conversation with the artist, Janine Thiess (Business Development Circular Economy, BMW Group), and Christiane Pyka (Spokesperson, BMW Group Cultural Engagement), who moderated the discussion.
The event took place on Saturday morning, May 10, at Kino im Bayerischen Hof as part of the VARIOUS OTHERS program.
Crash was developed during Mureb’s residency at AIR-M Ebenböckhaus in Munich in 2023, in partnership with the City of Munich’s Department of Arts and Culture. The film was realized in collaboration with the BMW Recycling and Dismantling Centre (RDZ) in Unterschleißheim, where Mureb conducted her research, filmed the disassembly of a test vehicle, and sourced car parts later used in sculptural works.
In Crash, Mureb reflects on efficiency, sustainability, and the afterlife of machines. The film transforms industrial processes into a visceral meditation on mortality and materiality. Shot using GoPro cameras, it blurs the boundary between human and machine, prompting viewers to reconsider the agency of matter within systems of circular economy.
In the conversation, Mureb traced the evolution of her practice from performance to the construction of kinetic sculptures—machines that express rhythm and movement without the human body. Her longstanding engagement with motors and mechanical components began in Brazilian junkyards, where she explored the sculptural potential of industrial debris.
The discussion addressed machines as both technical and cultural artifacts. Mureb likened them to archaeological remains—embodying the ideas, contexts, and material conditions of their production. She described the RDZ as a physically affecting space, where the scale and force of industrial dismantling shaped the film’s formal and conceptual framework.
Janine Thiess provided insight into BMW’s approach to circularity, explaining how the dismantling of prototypes serves as a model for reuse, informing future design strategies. What appears as an endpoint—the destruction of a vehicle—is, in fact, the beginning of new material lives.
Back in Brazil, Mureb continued working with car parts and welding techniques acquired in Munich. Her sculptural work shifted toward a more material-responsive approach, using discarded auto components sourced from repair shops—objects that carry traces of wear and usage, and with them, new narrative and formal possibilities.
Learn more about BMW Group Cultural Engagement
Date: Saturday, May 10, 11:30 AM