Volkswagen Malaysia and Filamen drops exclusive NFT collection

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Volkswagen Passenger Cars Malaysia (VPCM) and new media art collective Filamen have launched a collection of an exclusive Arteon NFT, titled "Accelerated Futurescapes".

According to VPCM, four one-of-a-kind crypto art based on the flagship Volkswagen models, will be available for purchase on the Southeast Asia NFT platform Pentas. The NFTs will also be presented on Filamen’s virtual gallery and co-curated design research platform, No-to-scale. This collection is said to be the second art collaboration to feature the Arteon. In 2019, VPCM partnered with Wei-Ling Contemporary art gallery on “Makings of a Masterpiece”, which featured 13 Arteon Art Cars by 13 local artists that were auctioned off for charity.

The NFT collection was created by Filamen artists, Syed Mohamad and Jason Choo. While Syed's art was more concerned with abstracted notions of unseen forces at play. Choo, on the other hand, focused on fictional imagery. His interest lay in visualising the performative aspects of the car in faraway worlds. Using themes such as "life" and "flight" to represent the Arteon's intangible dimensions, Choo's work acts as a mediator between him and the audience, relaying the artist's feelings on the Arteon.

A+M has reached out to Filamen for additional information regarding the NFT collection.

VPCM's managing director, Erik Winter said the decision to star the model, Arteon was to empower young local artists to be part of the company's journey to explore and widen their creative range. According to Winter, the Arteon offers the "perfect combination of avant-garde design with dynamic handling". He added that the company has always been at the forefront of digitalisation initiatives in Malaysia, and pushing digital boundaries is something VPCM constantly strives to do.

Meanwhile, Filamen's co-founder Abdul Shakir Abu Samah said the project was an opportunity for the digital exploration of the relationship between the car and aesthetic imagery and the artworks are distinct visions of the Arteon, exemplifying a car beyond just a vehicle. "What we wanted to do, at the heart of it all, was to express human emotions inspired by the Arteon," added Abdul.

Separately, in Singapore, Volkswagen went all out in social media to launch the GOLF 8 in May last year. Done in collaboration with GERMS, the teaser phase for "The Unrivalled Arrival" campaign began with a social media takeover of the brand’s Facebook and Instagram pages using an image of a glowing “8” underscored by the hashtag #TheICONReturns. This was accompanied by a unique countdown sequence on the pages’ Stories. At the same time, car enthusiasts were served digital ads that invited them to private viewing of the GOLF 8, before the car’s launch.

Among the other brands who have joined the NFT wave last year were Coach, adidas and Nike, among others. In December last year, Coach launched its first collection of NFTs, featuring eight Coach holiday animals from the fashion house. Similarly, adidas doubled down on its metaverse ambitions by entering into a four-way partnership with Bored Ape Yacht Club, Pixel Valut's Punks Comic and crypto investor Gmoney. The sports brand first dipped its toes into the metaverse via a partnership with cryptocurrency platform Coinbase on Twitter on 25 November and NFT gaming firm The Sandbox. Whereas for Nike, the brand gained momentum in its metaverse bet by acquiring virtual sneaker startup RTFKT last year. RTFKT is said to create NFT collectibles.