In the era when there were no cameras, painters used their exquisite painting skills to condense time. How to unseal the treasures of this time and reproduce them realistically? Perhaps walking into the "Jinling Tu Digital Art Exhibition" can find the answer to the question.
"We hope to not only make cultural relics 'come alive', but also let history 'speak', which is also our gift to the city of Nanjing." Irene, director of the Deji Art Museum, said in an exclusive interview. Indeed, on the subject of the convergence of art and technology, explorers in both industries are constantly challenging and trying, and let the two fields advance together. We followed the curator Irene into this long scroll of Jinling where both art and technology bloomed.
At the scene of the "Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition", thousands of gorgeous sky lanterns were hung above the exhibition hall
The commercial streets where merchants come and go, the Qinhuai River with developed shipping, the ancient city gate connecting land and water in parallel, and the duck bun shops that still have a fragrant fragrance... When you enter the "Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition", the prosperity and changes of the ancient capital of Nanjing are displayed like a picture scroll.
Part of Feng Ning's edition of Jinling Tu
I believe that many people are not unfamiliar with the ancient capital of Nanjing, which is a historical city with a very open and innovative spirit, but it is rare to be immersed in the old events of Nanjing in history. The "Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition" is a comprehensive display of the mutual empowerment of art and science and technology, in the modern space, immersive into the long scroll of custom paintings written by the painter Feng Ning, living with the residents of the Song Dynasty, feeling their daily life, so as to personally witness the prosperous picture of Nanjing's prosperity and happiness.
Due to fate, in 2015, Feng Ning's version of "Jinling Tu" was first released in the Poly Hong Kong Autumn Auction of Ancient Calligraphy and Painting, and was collected by Deji Art Museum, which became the opportunity for Deji Art Museum to hold the "Jinling Tu Digital Art Exhibition". Therefore, after spending more than two years preparing for the exhibition, I finally met with the audience, providing a professional and interesting space for everyone who loves Jinling culture to explore and discover.
According to Irene, director of Deji Art Museum, the exhibition invited more than 100 experts and scholars to study the "Jinling Map" and excavated countless historical knowledge. With the world's first cutting-edge technology to subvert the traditional digital form of cultural relics, let the audience directly communicate and interact with the people in the painting from a first-person perspective, obtain knowledge through independent exploration, break the barriers between cultural relics and the audience, and realize the exhibition experience of "entering the painting and following".
"In order to continuously output the profound historical knowledge and let every visitor get a personalized viewing experience, it is not enough to fully expound its rich urban culture and historical heritage through the traditional cultural relics display method." Therefore, after assembling the top technical team in animation production, precision positioning, three-dimensional sound effects, etc., through the efforts of nearly 400 staff, the 'Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition' was finally fully realized. ”
Enter the exhibition site, in the flickering light of the dream sky, walk into the "Jinling Map Dynamic Long Scroll", which is a must for literati and inkers, and is also one of the highly developed areas of commercial trade, the lively street market in Jinling Tuli is roughly the most concentrated residents since the Six Dynasties, the most prosperous southern part of the city, and the current Nanjing City across the ancient and modern, reflecting each other.
In the picture, on the street outside the Shuixi Gate, there is a duck restaurant, "Nanjing is jokingly called 'Duck Capital', walking in Nanjing you will find that the streets and alleys are buying ducks." It is said that the people of Nanjing eat about 80,000 ducks a day. In all the duck food shops in Nanjing, shui ximen ducks are even more prestigious. ”
As the audience walks, they can always find resonance in the artistic atmosphere. The ultimate purpose of technology is to awaken people's emotional connection, and behind the strong technical support, Jinling culture can be fully displayed. "For the people of the art museum, we never join technology to seek technological breakthroughs, all integration is ultimately to solve the narrative, and all technological innovation is to serve the content we want to show, and better complete the audience's communication with art."
Interior of the Dekey Art Gallery
Since the launch of the "Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition", it has received high praise from all walks of life. The audience said that through such interactive forms, they had a deeper understanding of the history and culture of Nanjing. "As a public art institution, the art museum has always been committed to the popularization of art and the improvement of the public's cultural and artistic accomplishment for diverse social groups. "Jinling Map" contains a wealth of historical knowledge, we will continue to launch a series of academic seminars, academic lectures, social education activities, etc., please keep an eye on it. Director Irene said.
Bamboo wire fan
Director of Dialogue
"Cultural Encounters" Across Time and Space
Q The scientific and technological nature of the "Jinling Map Digital Art Exhibition" is admired by many netizens, can you share with us the scientific and technological elements hidden in the exhibition?
A good one. We hope to present a "living" intelligent exhibition that offers new possibilities for the study and interpretation of cultural relics and the way culture continues. In this exhibition, there are a large number of scientific and technological elements presented.
For example, for the first time, the exhibition uses the Unity engine for real-time rendering, which is currently widely used in AAA game masterpieces, VR/AR and other industries. Through its addition, the audience can create their own character data to achieve character selection and generation. In addition, in order to allow the audience to swim in the "business-rich" Jinling City, the exhibition 3D models the building and environment in the painting, and interconnects the UWB with the Unity engine and the self-developed intelligent management system, and continuously adjusts the data tolerance to achieve the ideal positioning accuracy. We hope to be able to use new technologies and new means to stimulate creative inspiration, enrich cultural connotations, express ideas and emotions, and make literary and artistic creations more connotative.
Q What is the purpose of the "Jinling Tu Digital Art Exhibition" to use the game method to let the audience participate in it?
A The breakthrough of each era is based on the popularity of current technology and the demand for exhibition expression. From the standpoint of our museum, it is no longer like the education method instilled in the early years, and now as a young new generation of exhibition people, we are more willing to give the audience a clue, so that the audience can relate this clue themselves. However, the "game way" is not to "gamify" the exhibition, we advocate the value of "taking pride in acquiring knowledge", using a youthful way and language, through the growth system and reward mechanism, to achieve "cultural encounters" across time and space.
Q So, what kind of fresh experience will there be during the overall exhibition viewing process?
A audience can get freshness from all aspects, from the perspective of "game mode", the audience can be in the Qinhuai Street Market, meet 533 characters from the perspective of "I", role play, real-time follow-up, step by step, let the audience lead the exhibition "plot", through "dialogue, decision-making, exploration", in the motivation to complete the acquisition of deep knowledge.
Q This kind of viewing mode is one of the great highlights of this exhibition, right?
A Yes, in the whole process of preparing for the exhibition, "characters into the painting" and "real-time follow-up" are the most important problems we solve. That is, through the virtual character as an effective carrier of the audience, enter the dynamic long scroll, let the ta as the "avatar" of the audience swim in the painting, and realize real-time follow-up. In the new era of digital civilization, every art museum hopes to explore new paths and encourage every audience to cross the times, dialogue with history, and become the disseminator of Chinese culture.
Q Will the D&G Museum continue to explore the field of combining technology and art in the future?
A Combination of art and technology is one of the directions we have been practicing, and in 2022, the museum will launch a new media art exhibition, focusing on the most cutting-edge contemporary artists of the current era, to examine and explore contemporary art under the influence of science and technology.
Q In your opinion, what is the development trend of Nanjing's art atmosphere today?
A Nanjing has been an important cultural town since ancient times, and the creators and cultural people in the Nanjing area have always played an important role in the art world. Nanjing has a solid system of museums and art galleries, and in recent years, important new art institutions have emerged. We hope to work with them to contribute to the renewal of traditions, knowledge translation, and diversified narratives on the one hand, and to supplement the construction of local culture and in-depth research on local culture; on the other hand, to make Nanjing, as a cultural center, make a more powerful voice at home and even internationally, and attract more cultural attention.
Wen Wang Yajing
Edited by Han Haha
Courtesy of Deji Art Museum