Beijing forum discusses artistry of digital artifacts, AI

In addition to scanning and animating digital historical artifacts, what else can be done to make these witnesses to history more appealing to people? At the newly opened Suzhou Bay Digital Art Museum, in the scenic and culturally-rich city in Jiangsu province, visitors will find inspiring answers, which will immerse them in the achievements of human civilization.

"A 'time machine' experience takes visitors to prehistoric cliff paintings, where human originality was born … there is a 'forest' of bamboo slips engraved with the strokes of Chinese characters, and when people approach, the slips merge and form into a character," said Wang Boqiao, digital artist and chief curator of the temporary exhibition at the Suzhou Bay Digital Art Museum. He explained how his team has worked out methods for presenting vivid examples of Chinese culture through the use of digital technology, at the China Beijing International Audiovisual Conference on Saturday.

"I feel that many exhibitions these days are focused on amplifying technological effects, but lack artistry. I believe it is important to create an aesthetic system for digital art which will allow people to have a genuine, inspiring experience of art and culture," added Wang, who was also representing Digital Art China, one of the co-organizers of the forum.

The event brought together representatives from governmental bodies and figures in digital art, artificial intelligence and associated fields, who shared opinions and case studies in a bid to pave the way for Beijing to become an audiovisual center of global influence.

Fei Jun, a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, said that AI is like a mirror that helps people see human nature, and allows artists to reflect on the true meaning of art. "I'd like to see AI as an intermediary bridging humanity and nature, to reawaken our awareness of the need to respect nature".