Beyond Index | The Vast Land

The Vast Land |千里江山图 (previous known as Thousands Li of Rivers and Mountains) is a data-visual art project that “repaints” Wang Ximeng’s famous painting from the Northern Song Dynasty. Using a live feed and historical PM2.5 archive data from the USA embassy’s “Air Quality Index of Beijing” website and Twitterbot, this work distorts the 900-year-old representation of mountains and landscapes, transforming it into a new piece that disrupts established views. The distortion of the image is directly linked to the real-time data feed about the amount of air pollution in Beijing, up to the point that the landscape is completely falling apart. This work is using code to distort a familiar object in a way that questions established views, connects the past and the present, and hopes to influence the public.

More by Cao Yuxi (James)