A Generative Approach to Chinese Shanshui Painting

The Shan Shui in the World project recreated Manhattan, New York, in the style of traditional Chinese shanshui paintings by using a generative algorithm to transform its buildings into mountains. This project revisits the ideas implicit in Chinese literati paintings of shan shui: the relationship between urban life and people's yearning for nature and between social responsibility and spiritual purity. Shan Shui in the World was made possible by the growing ubiquitousness of data and the development of data visualization techniques, especially generative art.