Installation#1 Welcome to Heshan
2021
Overview
Installation # 01: Welcome to Heshan
In this project, we welcome participants to entertain and impress them with FONG TSE KA’s art through designed interactive visual elements. The visual presentation consists of different designs of the Chinese calligraphy and other patterns found from FONG TSE KA’s painting, including “calligraphy waterfalls”, “calligraphy snowflakes”, re-designed abstract background referenced to the paintings and human profiles filled with vivid colours. The installation will, by default, show a running calligraphy waterfall over a repeating background series as the presentation mode. When the participant walks in the interactive area, the installation will detect their presence and switch to interactive mode in which the waterfall will partially switch to snowflake with falling and bouncing effect. Moreover, the installation will project the participant into the screen as color blocks in profile shape, and the participant can virtually catch and hold the calligraphy snowflakes as in the physical world.
More Details
The elements of this interactive system are derived from the paintings of FONG TSE KA to bring traditional culture, local flavor and interactive technology together. There are many calligraphic inscriptions in FONG TSE KA’s paintings, and we have extracted all the characters as the essential part and though which, we enabled interaction with participants. We arranges the verses in the painting vertically, flowing from left to right in varying shades, sizes and speeds, creating a waterfall of poetry.
We tried three different color scheme options for the text and backgrounds. The first is to visually simulate a traditional scroll with a beige paper pattern as the background and black colored texts in the foreground. The second uses contrasting solid colors with a black background and white colored texts moving above, which refers to inscription on an ancient tablet.The third uses a richer palette and displays a stronger sense of modernity and design. The background is a mix of different colours of rose-coloured clouds, taking on the mood of a natural landscape. They flow into each other and blend to make the image more prosperous and vivid. In the foreground is a white waterfall of poetry, contrasting with the rich colors of the background. Aiming at more substantial visual impact with a modern aesthetic, we chose the third color scheme and designed eight different backgrounds in a series.
Please refer to paper: Welcome To Heshan: An Installation To Create Immersive And Entertaining Experiences With Local Art Through Interactive Media Technologies for more details.