Van Gogh-inspired digital art lights up Shanghai Pudong and Hongqaio airports

Colour Theory – Protection: This vast 360sq m installation at Shanghai Pudong International Airport T2 domestic departures brings non-profit digital art content to the terminal for the first time

Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds in violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue

– Vincent, Don Mclean

CHINA. In the run-up to this weekend’s Mid-Autumn Festival, JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising Co has partnered with digital content house OUTPUT to present ‘Colour Theory’, one of artist Jesse Woolston’s CG artwork series.

The spectacular content, which launched on 1 September and runs until 15 October, is being shown across 274 digital media platforms at Shanghai Pudong International Airport Terminals 1 and 2 and Hongqiao International Airports T1 and T2

The inspiration comes from ‘The Starry Night’ by famed post-Impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh.

正值中秋佳节前夕,上海机场德高动量广告有限公司再度联手数字内容平台OUTPUT于上海浦东、虹桥国际机场系列数字媒体呈现艺术家Jesse  Woolston的CG世界名画系列作品Colour Theory 《星夜旅程》,灵感来自于后印象派画家梵高的代表作——《星月夜》。

{Chinese readers can view the Colour Theory activation video via the site above while others can view it on our YouTube channel below}

In his renowned work, Van Gogh used turbulent brushstrokes to vividly depict the movement of the ever-changing sky. Through his reinterpretation of the original painting’s swirling stars and moon, Woolston demonstrates how art can redefine our experience of nature.

“By reproducing Van Gogh’s whirling forms in this manner, I want to help people gain a deeper understanding of the difference between the physical world and the artistic representation of it, as well as how we can interact with and understand nature,” he explains.

《星月夜》原作中,梵高使用湍流般的笔触,生动描绘了充满运动和变化的星空。夜晚的天空又高又远,大星和小星回旋于暗蓝色的夜空,金黄满月形成巨大漩涡,星云短线条纠结盘旋,仿佛置身于时光流逝的天空下,安睡的村庄那么宁静、安详。淡蓝的色调,动感的线条,给人自由的时空感。

Colour Theory – Cure: 3D digital art content comes to Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport’s T2 Domestic Departure Boarding Hall in this stunning infinity digital pillar network
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Based on Van Gogh’s works and inspired by physics, Woolston devised a special approach to accentuating the swirling starry sky and transforming it into a colourful particle flow. The night sky looks vast and out of reach, with stars big and small swirling against a dark blue canvas, and a full moon forming a giant golden vortex. The eddying and whirling of celestial bodies gives the sky a sense of ceaseless motion, as if showing us the passing of time, making the sleepy village underneath ever more serene and endearing.

Woolston physically simulated Van Gogh’s imaginary world by reconstructing the painting in a 3D format. Through observing and depicting such beautiful turbulent flow, Woolston redefines the way to experience the universal law from art. “By demonstrating Van Gogh’s turbulent brushstrokes, we can understand the differences between physics and artistic technique, and how we interact with and understand nature,” he says.

结合梵高原作并受到物理学的启发,数字艺术家Jesse Woolston找到了一种特别的方式来强调画作中的星夜漩涡,并将之变成由色彩粒子组成的波浪,以裸眼3D的方式重构了梵高眼里星月夜中的漩涡,物理化模拟了梵高的想象世界。通过观察和描绘美丽的星月漩涡,Jesse向我们展示了如何通过艺术重新定义我们对自然规律的体验,”以此方式再现梵高湍流般的笔触,我们可以理解物理学和艺术手法之间的差异,以及我们如何与自然互动并理解自然。”Jesse说。

夜晚的天空又高又远,大星和小星回旋于暗蓝色的夜空,金黄满月形成巨大漩涡,星云短线条纠结盘旋,仿佛置身于时光流逝的天空下,安睡的村庄那么宁静、安详。淡蓝的色调,动感的线条,给人自由的时空感。

Colour Theory – Balance: Woolston’s art is brought to life across a domestic departures smart boarding digital network

“Life is a journey, a state on the road and an attitude of pursuit,” said JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising Co. “The Starry Night represents beauty, imagination, strength, and a healing landing on our way to moving forward.

“At the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set out on their journey of reunion. When people meet, get together, and accompany each other at the two Shanghai airports, they can see the sea of stars and moons transforming into particles and flowing in front of them. These paintings provide a warm, positive and healing green energy in the form of digital art to passengers from around the world during the pandemic.

旅途亦是人生,是一个在路上的状态,一种追寻的姿态,而“星月夜”是美好,是想象,是力量,是我们在路上不断向前时一个治愈的落脚。中秋月圆,披星戴月,在旅途中,亦是团圆中。当人们相约、相聚、相伴在上海的两座机场,只要抬起头,就能看见幻化作粒子的星月海洋在眼前翻滚涌动,相赴团圆时伴随着这段旅程开启一幅幅艺术治愈系画卷,为疫情时期的全球旅客奉上一份来自数字艺术的温暖、向上、积极、疗愈的绿色能量。

About the Artist

Jesse Woolston是一位来自于新西兰的新媒体数字艺术家和作曲家,现居住和生活于美国洛杉矶。Jesse Woolston的灵感来源于科学、艺术史和自然现象,他的作品以梦幻般的视觉效果、原创音乐和大型艺术体验而闻名。在科学、机器和自然美学的支持下,Jesse Woolston使用了跨媒介的手法进行视觉和听觉的艺术创作。

Jesse Woolston is an artist and composer from New Zealand, working out of Los Angeles, USA. With inspiration derived from science, art history, and natural phenomena, his works are renowned for the fantastic visual effects, original music compositions, and large-scale art experiences. Supported by science, machine, and the aesthetics of nature, Jesse Woolston brings a transmedia approach to creating unique audio/visual artworks.

Colour Theory系列作品利用技术对梵高的《星月夜》进行了独特的诠释。通过分析梵高如何看待湍流、色彩和构图的艺术过程,艺术家将这幅杰作逐渐分解成颗粒,并在巨大的屏幕上展示其美感,扩大梵高的想象世界,为观众创造更绮丽壮观的视觉体验。

The Colour Theory series leverages technology to create a unique interpretation of The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh. The artistic process of analysing how Van Gogh saw turbulence, colour, and composition allows the artist to gradually break down the masterpiece into particles and demonstrate its beauty on the huge screen. This expands on what Van Gogh imagined and creates a bigger visual experience for the viewer.

About OUTPUT

OUTPUT digital content platform was created during a time of digital media transformation. Based on the economic principles of global digital content creators, it is dedicated to new ideas in the field of science, technology and arts. From online digital content to offline digital location, the company focused on the vision of digital content, digital experience and digital culture. It has created a worldwide competitive closed-loop of digital content production and operation that connects online and the physical, and is committed to exploring new platform opportunities created by new digital content.

OUTPUT数字内容平台诞生于数字媒介范式变迁的时代机遇中,立足于全球数字内容创作者经济核心价值,深度聚焦科技+艺术领域的前沿内容创新,从线上数字内容到线下数字化场景,我们始终围绕数字内容—数字体验—数字文化的愿景,打造具有全球化竞争优势的虚实结合的数字内容生产及运营闭环,致力于挖掘新型数字内容所造就的新型平台机会。

About JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising Co

JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising Co is a joint venture established by Shanghai Airport Advertising Co Ltd, Media Partners International Limited, and Momentum Media International Limited.

Since 2005, the company has signed exclusive advertising operation contracts with Shanghai Airport to operate and develop all the indoor and outdoor advertising media across both Shanghai Pudong International and Shanghai Hongqiao International airports.

JCDecaux Momentum Shanghai Airport Advertising Co is currently embarking on a sweeping digitalisation programme “to deliver the right message to the right person at the right place”.

上海机场德高动量广告有限公司是由上海机场广告有限公司、梅迪派勒广告有限公司以及动量传媒国际有限公司共同创建的中外合作型企业。自2005年起,机场德高动量拥有对上海浦东国际机场和上海虹桥国际机场所有户内外媒体的独家发展经营权。一直以来,机场德高动量秉持科技创新,质量当先的理念,打造机场媒体新环境,全力服务往来旅客并取得累累硕果。近年来,公司正向数码转型迈进,致力于在机场环境中将准确的广告,在准确的时间,推送给准确的受众。

New China market launch

An update of this article will appear in the October edition of  穆迪达维特中国旅游零售报告 – The Moodie Davitt China Travel Retail Report, a digital magazine launched in July dedicated to our industry’s hottest market.

The title is published in Mandarin and English four times a year across multiple platforms, including a link through from our popular WeChat Official Account.

The launch edition cover story was dedicated to China Tourism Group. Please click on the image to read. The next edition will also feature a comprehensive follow-up on CTG Duty-Free’s Global Offering and Hong Kong secondary listing. Please email Kristyn@MoodieDavittReport.com for a free first-year subscription and Irene Revilla at Irene@MoodieDavittReport.com for advertising details.

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