Introduction

     The Epitome of Aesthetics – Digital Impressions spotlights archived artifacts from the National Palace Museum to further expand and explore art through the six facets of aesthetics (color, proportion, texture, structure, construction, and composition) and the six perspectives of art appreciation (mounting, themes, artistic conception, narrative, technique, and style). Jade artifacts, bronze ritual vessels and calligraphy paintings such as Illustrated Album of Sea Miscellany, Illustrated Album of Sea Oddities, Early Spring, Travelers Among Mountains and Streams, and Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains are transformed into large new media installations that display their intricate details in full. With digital technology and guiding questions, visitors are able to truly experience the beauty and cultural implications of the artifacts. The integration of innovative thinking and the beautiful experience from digital impressions is aimed at presenting the diverse styles that results from connecting various disciplines.

     Aforementioned facets and perspectives serve as important context to the exhibit and link the five different sections. As visitors enter the exhibit, they are welcomed by the first section and the highlight of this exhibit – Creatures from the Depths, in Art and in Life. Equipped with a tunnel and interactive wall, Marvels within the Sea is an 18-meter long, digital aquatic wonderland that invites visitors to explore the difference of ancient and modern-day aquatic creatures through mixed reality. The second section is Composition: Mountains and Waters in Classical Painting, which exhibits replicas of Early Spring and Travelers Among Mountains and Streams. Interactive installations and other tools allow visitors to enter the painting for an multisensory and emotional experience. The third section, Style: Eastern and Western Impressions of an Iconic Landscape, will welcome the premiere of "Wandering in Fuchun River VR." Colors and characteristics from the works of Van Gogh, Cézanne, and Monet were identified using AI technology and further adorned with music and lighting effects to create a new immersive interactive theater. Visitors can dwell within the multi-layered visual feast that is Huang Gongwang's Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains as they learn to appreciate the styles and colors produced from the collision of Chinese and Western art. The fourth section is titled Narrative: Stories of Ancient Craftsmanship and will be screening an HD video that decrypts the exquisite craftsmanship and designs of ancient bronze ritual vessels and jade artifacts. The fifth section, Color: Co-Creating A Masterwork, houses "One Hundred Fantastic Steeds," an interactive wall projection where adults and children can both lift their pens to paint their own horse or dogs alongside ancient artists. The final and sixth section, Aesthetics of Reimagination: Breathing New Life into Old Treasures, integrates the previous five sections and challenges the visitor to think creatively and carefully consider how ancient art remains relevant to modern aesthetics.

     You are cordially invited to the exhibit and we invite you to use this narrative space as a beginning to a journey into aesthetics. Uncover classic art impressed within your heart and pen a chapter to detail your own encounters with aesthetics.