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Scenes from daily life fl ow on a 20-me- ter-high screen where the audience witnesses how they are transformed into the square characters of Chinese calligraphy.
This is Chinese artist Xu Bing’s animated video， The Character of Characters， in which each Chinese character is presented as a picture. Through hand-painted animation， the video illustrates how the Chinese writing system has originated and evolved.
Xu said the work was derived from observing and analyzing the work of the 14thcentury calligrapher Zhao Mengfu， and then adding imagination to it.
The video harnesses science and technology to express the profundity of Chinese culture in a way that is easy for the audience to understand. That is also the purpose of the Asian Digital Art Exhibition， a major event under the framework of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations that opened in Beijing on May 15.
The month-long exhibition with Asia as its theme has gathered 30 artists from China， Turkey， Japan， the Republic of Korea， Singapore， Viet Nam and beyond. With their different cultural backgrounds and styles， they shed light on how Asian civilizations coexist and nurture one another and how the cultural genes of Asian countries resonate and reverberate.
“The exhibition mirrors the artists’ refl ection of and response to cultural traditions，”Fan Di’an， the exhibition’s academic advisor and President of the Beijing-based Central Academy of Fine Arts， said. “It aims to provide a unique experience for the audience through creative integration of digital imaging， interactive devices， artifi cial intelligence（AI）， virtual reality （VR） and other technologies with cultures.”
Fan called the exhibition a platform for dialogue between culture and technology， embodying the diversity and inclusiveness of Asian civilizations， and using emerging media such as digital technology to give a new look to ancient civilizations.
Going beyond Asia
“We are holding the exhibition in the hope that artists and scientists can come together，” Fan said. “We hope to see them bridge the differences in cultures and disciplines to focus on today’s and future Asia.”
According to Wang Naiyi， executive curator of the exhibition， in the beginning， only Asian artists were supposed to be invited.“But then we found that we expected not just an exchange between Asian civilizations，” Wang said. Works by artists from Germany， the U.S. and Australia are also on display. They illustrate elements such as the Chinese characters， kungfu and Peking Opera， demonstrating traditional Chinese culture digitally and reflecting the impact of the Chinese civilization on Asian and global art.
Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw’s work Kungfu Visualization uses VR to present the performance of martial arts maestros.
Shaw， who teaches at the City University of Hong Kong， is fascinated by martial arts moves and tactics. “I have been doing augmented reality （AR） and VR-related art work for many years，” he said. “I am wondering whether it is possible to renovate martial arts this way.”
Shaw worked with his colleagues and students to capture the masters’ movements from different angles for a digital and multimedia visualization of martial arts. Kungfu Visualization provides six different angles of view. The audience can choose any or all of them on the touch screen to view the dynamics of the moves and experience the aesthetic visual impact of kungfu.
Tobias Gremmler， a German artist who works in Hong Kong， straddles both Asia and Europe. His Chinese Calligraphy in Motion demonstrates how the spirits of man and nature converge in Chinese calligraphy， while Virtual Actors in Chinese Opera shows how costumes and motion can virtually reshape a human body.
His third piece， Kungfu Motion Visualization， depicts the philosophy of kungfu by using an inductive tracking device. The action， strength and movement in writing， performance and motion are thus captured and dynamically presented in a creative way.
Another work， titled When Cultures Create Beauty Together， combines visuals from Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） silk scrolls with projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative， unfolding the moving stories behind them with digital and interactive technologies. The audience can participate in the work by clicking to see the details of each project.
An interactive experience
Experience and interaction are major features of the digital art exhibition， where visitors can interact with the exhibits.
In Chalkroom， a VR interactive work cocreated by U.S. artist Laurie Anderson and Huang Hsin-chien from China’s Taiwan， a huge blackboard symbolizes human memory. “It can be wiped over and overwritten， just like human memory， which fades，” a member of Huang’s team said.
The world of the blackboard is a huge virtual space consisting of numerous blackboards， which seems like a maze of memory. When visitors wearing VR helmets enter this world， they feel like they are dreaming and fl oating. The main purpose is to allow visitors to explore the connection between words and memories， according to the creators.
Compared with the static exhibitions that people are more familiar with， in digital art exhibitions they “can be involved in the work and become part of it， which is a new experience，” Wang said.
As ideas like digitalization and the digital economy advance， digital art is becoming known to a wider public. Industry insiders point out that digital art is not a single industry， but a multi-integrated composite industry of design， technology and more.
A potent combination
Zhang Huan’s Artificial Intuition is a kinetic sculpture that interacts with human motions. Installed in a corridor， it has robotic tentacles fitted with AI， sensors and motors to block people when they try to pass， turning into an aggressive creature.
Zhang hopes to explore the connection between humans and machines， intuition and reason.
Liang Wenhua， a graduate from the Central Academy of Fine Arts， China’s most prestigious art university， explores the relationship between people and various artifacts in his work Meeseeks Box. “It is also a prediction for our future living environment，”Liang explained. “When art or technology encounters bottlenecks， the other discipline can guide artistic creation or scientific research forward.”
Fan said by combining culture and art， science and technology will develop in a direction that is more conducive to the progress of the human civilization. “It will bring a better life for humanity， who can benefit from culture and technology，” he said.
While technology can reinvigorate ancient civilizations， art can show the future.“The combination of science and art can help people understand culture and history and imagine the future，” he concluded.
This is Chinese artist Xu Bing’s animated video， The Character of Characters， in which each Chinese character is presented as a picture. Through hand-painted animation， the video illustrates how the Chinese writing system has originated and evolved.
Xu said the work was derived from observing and analyzing the work of the 14thcentury calligrapher Zhao Mengfu， and then adding imagination to it.
The video harnesses science and technology to express the profundity of Chinese culture in a way that is easy for the audience to understand. That is also the purpose of the Asian Digital Art Exhibition， a major event under the framework of the Conference on Dialogue of Asian Civilizations that opened in Beijing on May 15.
The month-long exhibition with Asia as its theme has gathered 30 artists from China， Turkey， Japan， the Republic of Korea， Singapore， Viet Nam and beyond. With their different cultural backgrounds and styles， they shed light on how Asian civilizations coexist and nurture one another and how the cultural genes of Asian countries resonate and reverberate.
“The exhibition mirrors the artists’ refl ection of and response to cultural traditions，”Fan Di’an， the exhibition’s academic advisor and President of the Beijing-based Central Academy of Fine Arts， said. “It aims to provide a unique experience for the audience through creative integration of digital imaging， interactive devices， artifi cial intelligence（AI）， virtual reality （VR） and other technologies with cultures.”
Fan called the exhibition a platform for dialogue between culture and technology， embodying the diversity and inclusiveness of Asian civilizations， and using emerging media such as digital technology to give a new look to ancient civilizations.
Going beyond Asia
“We are holding the exhibition in the hope that artists and scientists can come together，” Fan said. “We hope to see them bridge the differences in cultures and disciplines to focus on today’s and future Asia.”
According to Wang Naiyi， executive curator of the exhibition， in the beginning， only Asian artists were supposed to be invited.“But then we found that we expected not just an exchange between Asian civilizations，” Wang said. Works by artists from Germany， the U.S. and Australia are also on display. They illustrate elements such as the Chinese characters， kungfu and Peking Opera， demonstrating traditional Chinese culture digitally and reflecting the impact of the Chinese civilization on Asian and global art.
Australian artist Jeffrey Shaw’s work Kungfu Visualization uses VR to present the performance of martial arts maestros.
Shaw， who teaches at the City University of Hong Kong， is fascinated by martial arts moves and tactics. “I have been doing augmented reality （AR） and VR-related art work for many years，” he said. “I am wondering whether it is possible to renovate martial arts this way.”
Shaw worked with his colleagues and students to capture the masters’ movements from different angles for a digital and multimedia visualization of martial arts. Kungfu Visualization provides six different angles of view. The audience can choose any or all of them on the touch screen to view the dynamics of the moves and experience the aesthetic visual impact of kungfu.
Tobias Gremmler， a German artist who works in Hong Kong， straddles both Asia and Europe. His Chinese Calligraphy in Motion demonstrates how the spirits of man and nature converge in Chinese calligraphy， while Virtual Actors in Chinese Opera shows how costumes and motion can virtually reshape a human body.
His third piece， Kungfu Motion Visualization， depicts the philosophy of kungfu by using an inductive tracking device. The action， strength and movement in writing， performance and motion are thus captured and dynamically presented in a creative way.
Another work， titled When Cultures Create Beauty Together， combines visuals from Ming Dynasty （1368-1644） silk scrolls with projects under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative， unfolding the moving stories behind them with digital and interactive technologies. The audience can participate in the work by clicking to see the details of each project.
An interactive experience
Experience and interaction are major features of the digital art exhibition， where visitors can interact with the exhibits.
In Chalkroom， a VR interactive work cocreated by U.S. artist Laurie Anderson and Huang Hsin-chien from China’s Taiwan， a huge blackboard symbolizes human memory. “It can be wiped over and overwritten， just like human memory， which fades，” a member of Huang’s team said.
The world of the blackboard is a huge virtual space consisting of numerous blackboards， which seems like a maze of memory. When visitors wearing VR helmets enter this world， they feel like they are dreaming and fl oating. The main purpose is to allow visitors to explore the connection between words and memories， according to the creators.
Compared with the static exhibitions that people are more familiar with， in digital art exhibitions they “can be involved in the work and become part of it， which is a new experience，” Wang said.
As ideas like digitalization and the digital economy advance， digital art is becoming known to a wider public. Industry insiders point out that digital art is not a single industry， but a multi-integrated composite industry of design， technology and more.
A potent combination
Zhang Huan’s Artificial Intuition is a kinetic sculpture that interacts with human motions. Installed in a corridor， it has robotic tentacles fitted with AI， sensors and motors to block people when they try to pass， turning into an aggressive creature.
Zhang hopes to explore the connection between humans and machines， intuition and reason.
Liang Wenhua， a graduate from the Central Academy of Fine Arts， China’s most prestigious art university， explores the relationship between people and various artifacts in his work Meeseeks Box. “It is also a prediction for our future living environment，”Liang explained. “When art or technology encounters bottlenecks， the other discipline can guide artistic creation or scientific research forward.”
Fan said by combining culture and art， science and technology will develop in a direction that is more conducive to the progress of the human civilization. “It will bring a better life for humanity， who can benefit from culture and technology，” he said.
While technology can reinvigorate ancient civilizations， art can show the future.“The combination of science and art can help people understand culture and history and imagine the future，” he concluded.