Transformation

Zhujun+Dai

Abstract：Based on two different perspective systems between western oil paintings and traditional Chinese paintings， this project applies the Chinese perspective to the English image， the panoramic illusion of the city of Norwich is used as an example for the final presentation show. The symbolic buildings of Norwich with traditional Chinese features， such as mountains and trees， are put together harmoniously. Both digital printing and hand painting are used in order to make the picture a mixed style of traditional Western and Eastern arts.

1.Literature review

The classical western oil painting follows a regular rule， which creates an image of depth on a two- dimensional flat surface by organizing space and depth from one point of view and applying a change of light and colour on objects， this is called linear perspective （or single point perspective）. In linear perspective， parallel lines that recede into the distance appear to get closer together or converge. It creates an illusion of depth from a single， fixed viewpoint. This system is based on how the human eye sees the world and is a highly useful tool for creating realistic art. However， the limitation of linear perspective is that it only contains the view of a small area， which does not represent all that the artists have seen.

While traditional Chinese painting does not have a mathematical system for creating the illusion of space and distance， Chinese arts follow some certain rules such as “the closer， the larger； the further， the smaller”， there is no vanishing point （or we could say， there are lots of vanishing points） in a Chinese painting， because the artists put multiple points of views onto one picture so that the image they create does not meet their eyes but meets their memory. While you can view a western oil painting all at once， you must view a Chinese scroll painting section by section.

It is important for a Chinese painting to reserve a blank area（intentionally） on the painting， the empty space is as important as that which is painted. The "emptiness" often contains enormous power， which creates an atmosphere of peacefulness and somehow expresses the spirit of Zen. It leaves the audience with an opportunity space of imagination.

The application of the water bleeding effect， the brush stroke， and the emptiness in traditional Chinese paintings create marked differences in Chinese art compared to Western art. Chinese artists do not attempt to produce the appearance of the nature exactly as they see it， but show how they feel matching their rhythm of nature and sense the spirit or thoughts about themselves. While western paintings are more realistic with depth and colour as the artist has seen， Chinese paintings are spiritual.

As a conclusion， with the changing of the cityscape and the structure of peoples living conditions， traditional arts seem to have become extinct. On research about these two different perspective systems， I tried to find a way of giving thought to traditional arts in a new vein.

2.Method

Based on two different systems of western and Chinese painting， this project will apply the Chinese perspective （scatteredfocus perspective） to the western image. The city of Norwich is chosen as the scene of this work， since it is a city of distinctive buildings， within a good living environment and the culture that they breed， provoking fond thought and memory of the city.

A pause for thought was required to consider alternative methods of collecting the images required. During this process， the work David Hockney and his “photocollages”， which he called “joiners” was considered. This artist arranged a patchwork to make a composite image by taking polaroid photographs or photo lab- prints of a single subject. The subject moved while being photographed， so that the pieces show the movements of the subject from the cameras perspective. A typical example of his landscape photomontages is “Pearblossom Highway” （1986）， this gives great inspiration that you can actually construct a scene by patching together many images to produce one scene instead of using one single image. By using multiple images taken from different perspectives， the different sides of one place in one picture can be shown， which meets thought of applying Chinese multi- focus points perspective.

Four scenes that really stand out as a symbol of Norwich， making the city distinctive， where many visitors have been chosen for working： the Sainsbury center and Norfolk & Suffolk accommodation of UEA， the Forum – the symbolic modern public building， which replaced the citys traditional central library， where free exhibitions， events， catering， shopping and learning opportunities attract thousands of people to come everyday； the Norwich open market – one of the largest Monday- to- Saturday open markets in the UK， one of the more busy central places in Norwich； the Riverside area – where NUA， the arts university of Norwich is located and finally the river Y are with featured traditional English houses.

3.Critical evaluation

On completing this project， it became apparent start that different techniques could be used to work with some of the oldest more traditional art forms. Combining these techniques with traditional art gives new ways in which， the art form would have a more meaningful practical existence in the modern society. And the technique is to apply this traditional method to western scenes， that is to transform art or images using different methods， creating an image that inspires and recovers memories of a place or object.

One of the most important factors of Chinese painting is the“spirit”， which stands for the close relationship with the artists personality and the unique philosophy to the nature. （Apomayta， 2005） Chinese artists believe that the painting is the expression of the painters own knowledge and temperament. In this way， Chinese a painting becomes something much more than art. In this project， there is an attempt to create an atmosphere of “peace” and“calm” which stands for my feeling of Norwich， and also gives expression of thought of traditional Chinese culture.

Standing in front of the final outcome， a 3 meters scroll painting of Norwich called “Transformation” has been fixed on the wall. Among all the scenes， the University of East Anglia， with its distinctive 1960s designed listed buildings， which would be strong in the memory of the many student visitors of Norwich， especially the blanket part between the lake and buildings， that is a beautiful grassland where students of the university can lay down for a whole afternoon in peace and tranquility， gathering thoughts for study while looking at the sky and listening to the sound of the nature - - so peaceful and exactly the same feeling expressed by ancient Chinese paintings.

Today， peoples life speed has reached an epic era， especially in China， the country that has been developing at a magical speed in the last thirty years. However， it could be argued some traditions have been losing something important and barely thinking about why. An experience in UK gives any serious student the chance to stop and think about “why”.

Bibliography

[1] Neil Collins， Linear Perspective in Painting， Art Encyclopedia， http：//www.visual-arts-cork.com/painting/linear-perspective. htm

[2] Ernesto Apomayta， What sets Chinese painting apart from western painting， http：//www.chinatownconnection.com/chinesepainting.htm

[3] John Russell， David Hockneys Designes For Met OperasParade New York Times， 20 February 1981

[4] Shao Xiaoyi. Yue Feis facelift sparks debate， China Daily. Archived from the original on 2007-09-29. Retrieved 2007-08-09.

[5] Joseph DAmelio， Perspective Drawing Handbook， p. 19，Dover Publications