Beijing, Sunday 22 June, 2014 MOMENTOUS, a multimedia, interactive exhibition presented by UBS and organized by the Today Art Museum in Beijing was unveiled today, marking the first showing of artist and photographer Hannes Schmid's work in Asia.

Dr. Alex Gao, Director of the Today Art Museum

    At the centre of the exhibition five monumental mobile sculptures turn in perpetual motion upon which photographs and moving image are projected. Visitors are invited to play an active part in the creation of this work by synthesizing images of their own—uploaded through smart phones and a digital app—with those of the artist. At the heart of the piece a unique, integrated portrait will evolve of Beijing today, a visual story told communally by an audience in dialogue with both an artist and itself.
    Hannes Schmid is closely connected to Chinese culture through family, his Chinese wife and two children. He envisions MOMENTOUS as a synthesis of two cultural spheres and invites visitors to consider interweaving approaches to art and philosophy from different cultures: “In recent years it has become increasingly obvious to me how much Chinese civilization has influenced our own. I am interested in further exploring the future of this cultural exchange and this exhibition expresses above all the energy that this exchange generates.”
    The populated work is framed within Schmid’s multimedia series on Formula 1, Short Stories and Moment of a Moment, featuring high-tech cars and heroic drivers, exploring the themes of speed and time. Large-scale intimate and unconventional portraits of Formula 1 drivers Jenson Button, Jacques Villeneuve and Takuma Sato—photographed at Pierre Cardin’s futuristic Bubble House on the French Cote d’Azur—are presented alongside landscape studies documenting the trial run by BAR-Honda of the envisioned Speed Record on the Salt Flats of Utah.
    Alex Gao, Director of the Today Art Museum said: “It is our pleasure to present Hannes Schmid’s work to the visitors of Today Art Museum. MOMENTOUS is one of the most important exhibitions at Today Art Museum this year. We hope our visitors enjoy this pioneering experiment in integrating art and social media in China."
    The exhibition has been co-curated by Kornelia Imesch, art historian and professor of Modern and Contemporary Art and Architecture at the University of Lausanne and Jürg Wey. Accompanying public programmes at the Today Art Museum include an Artist Talk and Q&A with Schmid on 28 June 2014 discussing his current work, MOMENTOUS, his life and career.
    Mr. Juerg Zeltner, CEO Wealth Management, UBS AG said: “UBS is delighted to have MOMENTOUS as an exciting addition to its global portfolio of art sponsorships. China is a key market for UBS so there is special resonance in being associated with the project in Beijing. However, we seek to go beyond sponsorship to participate in the international conversation about art and in the global art market and to promote the cultural and creative development of art communities internationally.”