Overlooked Opportunities: Addressing Global Challenges Through Cross-Cultural Political and Ecological Digital Art by Reinterpretation of Traditional Eastern Art and Philosophy

Abstract

This paper is informed by a series of digital artworks addressing global challenges such as climate change or decline of democracy in an alternative way to worldwide audiences in the East and West by reinvestigating and celebrating the values and traditions of Eastern art and culture as an overlooked, rich resource. The research process is practice-based and cross-cultural artefacts are created which are informed by the aesthetic and philosophical tradition of Eastern art as well as the critical approach of Western contemporary art practice. Using digital media technologies idea and materiality of traditional Chinese scrolls of landscape and cityscape are adapted and remediated into animated video scrolls or video paintings. Each video painting makes a critical comment on a different subject such as the Tsunami 2011 in Japan or Tiananmen Square Events 2009 in Beijing by the inclusion of documentary video footage. Adopting contents of Eastern scrolls has become quite common for Eastern artists such as South Korean Lee Lee Nam who combines fine art and technology in his works, using LED monitors to represent traditional Asian sceneries, or-River of Wisdom', an animated scroll presented at World Expo 2010 China Pavilion. The body of work presented was made by a Western artist and therefore engages additionally in translation and interpretation of cultural heritage into different contexts, specifically Eastern content into Western context and paradigms. These cross-cultural artefacts act as an agent to foster discussion about global art practice as well as new forms of moving image making.



Author Information
Christin Bolewski, Loughborough University, United Kingdom

Paper Information
Conference: MediAsia2018
Stream: Visual Communication

This paper is part of the MediAsia2018 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon