Shanshui Journey: AI Reproducing the Experience of Chinese “Literati” Ink Paintings

Abstract The authors investigate Chinese “Shanshui” (literally meaning mountain and water), a China-origin and East Asian ink paintings of the natural landscape, through an interactive art installation, entitled “Shanshui Journey.” By examining Shanshui’s philosophy, multiple-moving perspectives, and creation and appreciation practices, the work emphasizes motion in nature, memories, and interactive appreciation. These concepts are realized in a digitized room, where each participant’s motion is captured as a line “sketch” and transformed into an ink painting (i.e., Shanshui) via a custom neural network. Generated paintings are displayed in real-time alongside previous works, collectively termed “Shanshui Memories,” mimicking the handscroll interaction. This new Shanshui approach aims to reproduce the Chinese literati art experience, raising awareness of the cultural heritage.