Thea Awards Program Article
For Judith Rubin
1/22/2011 Version 1
Along the River During the Qingming Festival, China Pavilion
Tucked inside the China pavilion like a pearl in a giant oyster, you’ll find one of
the most unexpectedly charming exhibits in the entire 2010 Expo. The China
Pavilion, a colossal stack of brilliant, red beams in an impossible configuration
that towers over its neighboring pavilions, sets the tone for the entire event. To
the approaching guest, this commanding exterior hints at the impressive exhibits
that must surly lie within, but what is found boarders on inspirational.
The Chinese art treasure, “Along the River During the Qingming Festival,” a
painted scroll by artist Zhang Zeduan, is among the culture’s most coveted works
and has been called “China’s Mona Lisa” by the NY Times. The exhibit in the
China Pavilion that has been built around this historic art piece has managed to
take something truly ancient, made with antiquated materials in an old style, and
turn it into something that can entertain and engage today’s modern audience.
By changing the medium of presentation and adding an overlay of cutting-edge
technology, they have transformed the classic into the contemporary as a new
work of art that stands up in an age where audiences are bombarded by dazzling
technology. The exhibit is a welcome departure from the intense excitement of
the expo experience, a pocket of serenity that encourages guests to reflect upon
subtle cultural cues.
The scroll painting, crafted during the Northern Song period (960-1127), has
been meticulously recreated in projection on an impressive screen stretching 100
meters in length and roughly 6 meters in height, requiring 12 projectors. Scaled
up thirty times the size of the original, this achievement of panoramic projection is
the focus of the China Pavilion’s “River of Wisdom” section. It is a brilliant
marriage of a state of the art technique from the modern age with art from
ancient times. This clever twist elevates the piece into a new realm of
appreciation.
Like the original, the digital version of the masterpiece is a visual description of
life in Bianjing City during this period. Capturing a moment of commotion and
activity along the river, the images depict a spectrum of lifestyles from rich to
poor, rural to urban. The painting is “displayed to reflect ancient Chinese wisdom
about cities” and recalls the harmonious city life from China’s history.
There is a significant difference from the original, however. In this version, while
you marvel at every brush stroke, Zhang Zeduan’s work comes alive as each
individual figure on the digital tapestry begins to move before your eyes.
Through the use of computer animation, the painting is populated by 1068 virtual
George Walker
DESIGN
(716) 598-1546
storybuilderdesign.com
inhabitants that breath new life into the art piece to spectacular effect. They
bustle about the riverside performing their daily activities with a subtlety that
recounts the harmony of life during this age. In contrast, the scenic elements
and buildings of the original painting are projected in painstaking detail and
remain completely static. A description in the China Daily states that, “All the
people and animals in this computer animation masterpiece are in motion and in
communication with each other as if those living souls of the Song Dynasty have
been brought back to life after almost one millennium.”
The scale of this entertaining exhibit is measured, not only in size, but in time as
well. Every four minutes marks the beginning and end of another day. Just as
you find yourself lost in the details of the digital artistry, the painting magically
transitions from day to night. The buildings begin to glow from the firelight within,
shimmering on the water below, and people bear lanterns to guide their way.
Below the main projected surface, the painting is augmented by a feature called
the “Digital River,” a series of secondary projections that focus on several
evocative elements within the scene. These displays are animated in a similar
artistic style and serve up delightful little vignettes that visually explore the daily
life and activities of the painting’s inhabitants in greater detail. A cluster of boats
drifts by as fishermen unload the cargo on a nearby dock in one scene, a camel
caravan arrives delivering goods from the Silk Road in another. These visual
embellishments offer just the right amount of additional information.
The achievement of this exhibit lies in the fact that it has taken an ancient work of
art and blended it with modern technology in a way that elevates its interest to
suit today’s audiences while simultaneously paying respect to the original artistic
intent. This ingenious new spin on the presentation of the old manages to take
an outdated art form and gracefully augment it in a way that makes it not only
relevant in an exposition drenched in contemporary technological displays, but
also reminds us how far we have come at the same time that it celebrates how
far we can go.
The “The River of Wisdom” exhibit has been called “one of the highlights of the
whole of Expo 2010,” and is an accomplishment that is sure to be cherished by
all who experience it.
George Walker
DESIGN
(716) 598-1546
storybuilderdesign.com