Traditional crafts are cultural treasures that shine brightly in the long river of history, reflecting and contemplating the era in which they exist. After a long period of development and innovation, we now find ourselves in an era of rapid technological advancement, where new media technologies emerge one after another. The combination of traditional crafts and immersive art for innovative development is the ultimate goal of immersive expression.

1. Current Development Status of Traditional Crafts: The emergence of humanity has been accompanied by the exploration of tool use, gradually forming crafts after thousands of years of evolution. Traditional crafts have maintained a trend of spiraling upward throughout their long development, whether during the flourishing period of agricultural civilization or during the slow development due to rapid industrial growth. Discussions on traditional crafts can be traced back to “Kaogongji” and “Tiangong Kaiwu,” with each period’s crafts exhibiting unique characteristics due to historical and cultural changes, possessing the aesthetics of their time. Since the 20th century, China has increased its efforts to protect and inherit traditional crafts, leading to a positive trend in their development. In 1995, the China Traditional Craft Research Society was established. The same year, Mr. Hua Jueming began to lead the compilation of “Chinese Traditional Crafts,” which has currently published 20 volumes. In 2017, the State Council issued the “Revitalization Plan for Chinese Traditional Crafts,” aimed at vigorously promoting the inheritance and revitalization of traditional crafts and constructing a system for inheriting excellent traditional Chinese culture. These initiatives demonstrate the support and importance that China places on traditional crafts. All sectors of society, especially in the fine arts and technology sectors, bear the mission and responsibility of researching, protecting, and revitalizing traditional crafts.

With the impact of industrialization, the development of traditional crafts also faces some difficulties:

China is vast, and there are differences in economic development across regions, combined with the multitude of traditional crafts, leading to an imbalance in their development. Some crafts produce items that are still sold simply, while others have developed into branded marketing, forming an industry. For example, the “Zhang Xiaoqin” scissors have established themselves in the commercial center of Nanjing Road in Shanghai, creating a museum immersive experience + store model for sales, while also establishing their own website and Taobao flagship store. The combination of online and offline, along with the output of corporate culture, has expanded their fame and profits, making shoppers feel that they are buying not just a pair of scissors, but a sentiment towards craftsmanship.

There is a serious lack of innovation and homogenization. Taking the traditional fish skin craft products of the Hezhe ethnic group in Heilongjiang as an example, the fish skin ornaments made by inheritors are largely similar, with repetitive patterns and uniform sizes, showing very little innovation, and lacking the deep-rooted historical and cultural connotations of the Hezhe ethnic group.

There are few inheritors; the inheritance of traditional crafts has historically been private, mostly through family or master-apprentice systems. Some current inheritors still hold the view that the core techniques should not be shared. Additionally, the long production cycles of traditional crafts and the low interest from young people, who find the returns low, lead to fewer young people entering this industry.

Finding ways to revitalize traditional crafts, effectively disseminate their rich connotations, make them appealing to the youth, and attract buyers is crucial for the economic development of the industry, keeping pace with the times. With the emergence of new media and technologies, it is essential to learn and progress technically. At this time, the expression of immersive art becomes indispensable.

2. Overview of Immersive Art

(1) The Rise of Immersion

Immersion, in the dictionary, is defined as being soaked in water. It is often used as a metaphor for entering a certain realm or thought process. The term “immersion” appeared in ancient China. In Han Yu’s “Jin Xue Jie,” it is written: “Immersion is rich and profound, savoring the essence of the content.” It refers to scholars deeply immersed in rich literature, carefully tasting and absorbing the essence of the articles. This means being fully focused on doing something. This aligns with the term “flow” proposed by American psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, which can be understood as the meaning of flow and immersion, explaining the state of being fully concentrated and immersed when a person is engaged in a task. This is the famous “flow theory.” Later, in his book “Flow,” he wrote: “We can deeply and effortlessly engage in actions, entering a state of ‘self-forgetfulness,’ and when the flow experience comes to an end, these elements combine to create a profound sense of pleasure, bringing immense rewards.” This means we naturally enter a state from which we can reminisce after it ends. This is immersion. Maslow’s peak experience can also be seen as a state of immersion, described as “mystical, momentarily generated, and fleeting intense happiness. Peak experiences are not forced but arise naturally.” This is a higher level of emotional engagement. When we become accustomed to our surroundings, our perception gradually weakens. How to naturally perceive and enter an immersive state may be answered by immersive art.

(2) Forms of Immersive Expression – Immersive Art

Regarding immersive art, Frank Rose mentions in “The Art of Immersion” where it is stated, “Where is immersive art taking us?” It emerges in a new narrative form, telling stories in a non-linear way through multiple media simultaneously. This method is participatory, often game-like, and most importantly, its design must make people feel present. This book focuses more on the combination of film and immersive art, which allows us to understand that in the early 20th century, filmmakers not only expressed through storytelling but also created more possibilities using sound, light, and electricity, impacting viewers. In 2003, immersive art was clearly expressed in Olafur Eliasson’s “The Weather Project” (Figure 1), where he used hundreds of yellow sodium lights combined with ceiling mirrors and fog to create a dim sunlit atmosphere, prompting numerous viewers to lie on the ground to enjoy the sunset. Each viewer could feel themselves in that moment, a feeling that is often longed for. In our fast-paced lives, we rarely take the time to appreciate the ordinary things. Immersive art utilizes space, distance, color, and light to create a large environment, allowing individuals to start from themselves and their perceptions to contemplate the relationships between people, events, and environments. At this point, the distinction between real and virtual becomes more blurred, allowing for a re-understanding of our connection to the world and restructuring our perceivable reality.

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

In addition to relevant art exhibitions, immersive expression also includes dramas and performances. For example, Zhang Yimou’s conceptual performance “Dialogue: Fable 2047” connects tradition and modernity, featuring performers from various regions who are intangible cultural inheritors, as well as top technology teams and excellent dancers from around the world. Through the construction of stage scenes and the enhancement of technical means, an immersive stage is created. There is also the domestic immersive drama “Sleepless Night,” where audience members wear masks and move through the entire scene, breaking the constraints of traditional stage performances. This is no longer a traditional play; the audience becomes part of the drama. The production team uses an entire building to create an environment, complemented by the ups and downs of the script to achieve an immersive effect.

(2) Characteristics of Immersive Art

1. Technicality

The rapid development of technology has penetrated various fields, and art has entered a new stage. The development of immersive art is closely tied to technology, with 5G, AI, VR, 3D printing, holographic projection, MPEG-4, and other technologies all integrated with immersive art.

The advancement of the times has led to rapid technological changes, with many pioneering artists exploring more possibilities. VR, or virtual reality technology, is a combination of computer hardware, sensing technology, and robotics, simulating a three-dimensional world with visual, auditory, and olfactory experiences, allowing interaction with people. Through panoramic videos and 3D modeling, a virtual reality world can be created.

2. Interactivity

Interactivity is the process of mutual connection and interaction, manifested in two-way feedback and causative relationships. Interactivity is a crucial feature of immersive art expression. Immersive art, as a significant category of new media art, differs from traditional art. Traditional art is a static appreciation process, while immersive art creates specific spaces that become multidimensional. Through technological means or scene construction, it forms interactions between the work and the audience, as well as between the entire space and the audience. Through interaction, the audience’s consciousness transforms, resulting in new images, concepts, and experiences, thus achieving interaction with the art.

3. Elements of the Integration of Traditional Crafts and Immersive Art

(1) Craft Theme

Just like creating a good work, the artistic conception contained in the work is where its sublimation lies. When starting the creation, one must leverage subjective initiative to conceive its value and the artistic conception of the scene. The artistic conception is the blending of emotions and scenes in poetry, the interaction of reality and illusion in traditional Chinese landscape painting, the center of art, and the concretization of the creator’s thought expression.

There are many types of traditional crafts, and after determining the craft, it is essential to root it in its long historical background. Traditional crafts have undergone hundreds or even thousands of years of development, and the cultural value and connotation of traditional crafts are sufficient to support the entire theme. For example, the immersive new media interactive art exhibition “Roaming through Tiangong Kaiwu” held in Shenzhen in February 2021 (this exhibition is divided into many areas, with more interactive installations, not entirely immersive art but intersecting with it, combining traditional crafts) focused on the exhibition of the book “Tiangong Kaiwu” written by Song Yingxing, turning ancient Chinese scientific ideas into tangible scenes. The entire exhibition is divided into two chapters: Tiangong and Kaiwu. This immersive art traces the threads of civilization from a historical perspective; from a technological perspective, it explores the origins of all things; and from a lifestyle perspective, it discovers the joy of science. This is a sublimation of the entire theme, as well as a dialogue between ancient and modern times, an innovative connection. A good thematic creation will draw more attention to this art, stimulating deep thinking about the theme and the culture it embodies. Additionally, the value of the crafts displayed will be enhanced due to cultural elements.

(2) Scene Space Creation

Scenes can be real, such as cinemas, libraries, and outdoor settings, or they can be a combination of real and virtual, such as TeamLab’s immersive art “Connecting Life Forms” created in Japan’s Mifuneyama Rakuen. The entire series of works uses non-material digital technology to allow “nature to become art in its natural form.” The official website features a waterfall projected onto rocks, created using projection technology. The water in the image is represented by countless continuous water particles, with their interactions calculated. Then, based on the behavior of the water particles, lines are depicted in space, simulating the movement of water on the rocks, ultimately illustrating the waterfall. Additionally, new environments created through technological means and virtual devices allow viewers to contemplate the relationship between the environment and themselves, expanding imagination. When discussing immersive art, it is difficult not to mention the TeamLab team, whose creation of the Borderless Museum has enriched the connotation of immersive art starting from the concept of eliminating boundaries. From a technological perspective, they have broadened the forms of immersive art, making TeamLab one of the representative figures of immersive art.

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

The layout of the spatial scene should be large, as the impact of large-scale images often makes it easier for people to immerse themselves, creating a more immersive experience. Finally, the narrative expression of the scene and theme should align, and the addition of physical objects can enhance the depth of immersion. This enhances users’ peak experiences within the environment. When integrating with traditional crafts, the space created must align with the historical context of the chosen craft, allowing viewers to be naturally immersed in the entire space.

Finally, the expansion of the spatial scene can be approached through narrative creation and interactive creation. Interactive creation focuses on interaction, employing technological means to allow viewers to interact with the work. Narrative creation involves bringing viewers into the creator’s vision, allowing them to understand the underlying meaning through the creator’s design. The narrative approach can be linear, where the creator uses time or space as a sequence, telling a continuous story throughout the scene; or it can employ non-linear narrative techniques, expressing scenes in variable, disordered, or fragmented memory styles. When combining with crafts, the expression can be done using a single method or a combination of methods. In the seventh chapter of Zhang Yimou’s conceptual performance “Dialogue: Fable 2047” (Figure 3), when the traditional weaving craft inheritor, 78-year-old Wu Shuxiang, begins operating the loom, the screen slowly reveals the movement of the loom’s internal lines, and dancers begin to perform. This is a natural connection between the two, a dialogue between craft and technology. As Wu Shuxiang begins weaving, the female dancer moves in rhythm within the illuminated bulbs. This segment of the performance employs a non-linear narrative creative method within a technologically constructed scene, reconstructing relationships and meanings between the past and the future, achieving the inheritance and innovation of craft, technology, and culture.

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

(3) Establishing Connections with Viewers

The first layer of connection that immersive art establishes with viewers is bringing them into the environment. Traditional artworks are an expression of the creator; to understand such a work deeply, one must grasp the core by understanding the creator’s environment, experiences, and emotions at the time of creation. Only then can one gain certain insights. However, immersive art is directly presented to you, leaving space for construction. This shifts from being merely accepted to being actively participated in.

The second layer is entering into immersive art; in this space, the audience fully engages, naturally and without defense, being immersed in the entire environment, with sensory experiences encompassing sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. This is a bodily instinctive experience, forming perceptions through aesthetic experiences. The emotions and consciousness of viewers enter the work, and viewers unconsciously generate identification and resonance, allowing them to feel a sense of creation, which is a deeper level of immersion. As TeamLab expresses in the establishment of the Borderless Museum, the first meaning of “borderless” is to eliminate the boundaries between the audience and the work, allowing the audience to become part of the work.

Finally, it is also possible to grasp the curiosity and expectations of users, setting certain difficulty mechanisms. Interaction should neither be too simple and boring nor too difficult and anxiety-inducing. Designers must stimulate the audience’s sense of control and interest in the work through emotional guidance and personalized design, ultimately achieving two-way feedback. A typical case is the “Rain Room” exhibited by Random International at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2013, where the entire room is under a torrential downpour, but as you move through it, you won’t get wet. Notably, in addition to visual, auditory, and tactile experiences, the creator incorporated olfactory elements into the creation process, designing the smell of rain by blending materials from the exhibition floor and dust from shoes to create a rain-scented effect, achieving an immersive result. This installation uses 3D dynamic tracking camera technology to capture the audience, ensuring they remain dry while interacting with the environment, achieving clever interaction between humans and machines, as well as between humans and the environment. The modes of interaction are diverse; in the “Tiangong Kaiwu” exhibition in Shenzhen, in the opening scroll area, when viewers click on the screen, a huge painting appears. From a distance, they can immerse themselves in it, and upon closer inspection, clicking on small figures allows them to view techniques such as weaving. I believe that further interaction can be achieved by integrating physical objects.

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

4. Methods of Integration Between Traditional Crafts and Immersive Art

(1) Combination of Sound, Light, and Electricity

The application of sound, light, and electricity in immersive art may seem basic but is not simple. Each of the three forms has unique characteristics, and each can stand alone as art. Sound exists in the form of waves, with various attributes such as frequency and amplitude, and different environments can also affect the form of sound waves. The echo phenomenon of wall surfaces is an example of sound that can only be received in a specific field. Sound can also be visualized through sound spotlighting and systems that convert sound waves into ultrasonic signals. The combination of immersive art and sound can be diverse. As TeamLab’s founder Toshiyuki Inoko said, “The music created by the musician Hideaki Takahashi, who collaborates with them, dances with the light, and its attributes are completely different. It is precisely because of this musical background that each work can become vivid, and when viewers touch the works, sounds will also emerge, connecting all elements of the space with the music.”

Electricity itself can also be an art form. When a column of mercury gas and vapor is introduced into a flat electrode under high voltage (1000v), a corona glow appears, creating a beautiful luminescent phenomenon with special bright and dark parts inside the electric tube. There are also various art forms, such as Tesla coil art and electronic flow trees, composed of induction loops and large capacitors.

Light itself has characteristics like color and intensity, delay and attenuation, etc., and can create point light sources, spotlights, ambient lights, and area lighting, along with tools that coordinate overall lighting, convergence, and scattering techniques, allowing for infinite possibilities with light. There are also many artistic forms of light: Tyndall effect and light effect art. Light effect art generates visual illusions through optical sensations. The ultimate goal is to create hallucinations or illusions, which aligns with the immersive art experience.

When combining traditional crafts with immersive art, it is essential to integrate sound, light, and electricity comprehensively. For instance, in 2010, Ma Yansong and Eliasson collaborated on the work “Feeling is Real” in China, exploring chaos and perception. Eliasson, who lived in Iceland, has been sensitive to light since childhood, as expressed in his work “Dialogue with Weather.” Eliasson has always focused on Asian architects, coincidentally, Ma Yansong’s work was exhibited in Denmark, leading to this cross-border collaboration. In “Feeling is Real,” Eliasson focused on the interior of a building, interested in how space and human perception can be combined, emphasizing that in the future, people’s understanding of the environment will become increasingly personalized. He installed hundreds of fluorescent lights throughout the exhibition hall, creating blocks of red, green, and blue colors. As viewers traverse the color blocks, they search for their own “spectrum.” In this search, they find that the ground slopes more steeply as they move inward, prompting exploration of the end space. The entire space is filled with artificial fog, and as people enter, the scenery within the fog constantly changes, with beams of light penetrating the mist, revealing various spaces. The sense of presence is not an illusion but a tangible experience of the body. Everyone becomes part of the exhibition, encapsulated in the saying “You watch the scenery on the bridge, while the person watching the scenery on the building looks at you.”

In integrating traditional crafts, it is essential to grasp the characteristics of each craft. For instance, shadow puppetry, which closely relates to light and shadow, is a treasure of our traditional culture in both its production techniques and performance forms. The inherent light and shadow of shadow puppetry complement immersive art. However, shadow puppetry has also been impacted by the rapid development of the times, making it essential to explore a sustainable development path. The stage for shadow puppetry can be combined with immersive spaces. Shadow puppetry performances can also include special effects, enhancing the atmosphere of immersive art. Furthermore, the production techniques can incorporate Arduino, sensors, and processing to create interactive devices, exploring more possibilities for immersive shadow puppetry.

(2) Coordination of Various Technologies

1. Application of Virtual Reality

Virtual reality (VR), formerly known as spiritual realm technology, allows users to be fully immersed in a three-dimensional world created by computers, enabling interaction with virtual objects. It is a product of the rapid development of computer 3D technology into an interactive form, a culmination of advancements in computer hardware, sensing technology, and behavioral psychology. People can enter a three-dimensional world and interact with corresponding information. Artists can use virtual reality technology to project their ideas and creativity through computers, bringing viewers into the space, turning them into participants and igniting endless imagination. This immersiveness and interactivity are essential conditions for immersive art. The emergence of virtual reality technology has propelled the development of immersive art. Technology has also become a vital means of artistic creation. Various types of virtual reality exist, with some immersive VR systems utilizing data gloves, helmets, glasses, etc., to enhance the immersive experience, providing a completely new virtual space for full mental and physical engagement. When using this technology, it is also crucial to avoid lengthy experiences that may induce dizziness. In immersive creation, one can simulate the production process of a craft, such as the brewing process of liquor, from raw material harvesting, fermentation, distillation, aging, blending, to bottling. The scenes can change according to different processes, allowing us to fully experience the brewing techniques of liquor while wearing a helmet.

2. Application of 3D Technology

3D technology serves as a contemporary tool-based foundational technology based on networks, computers, and digital platforms. It includes 3D printing and holographic imaging technologies. Holographic imaging is frequently used in immersive art. For instance, the immersive art installation “Periscopista” by designer Thijis Biersteker, which won the Down The Rabbit Hole competition, symbolizes a tribute to human curiosity. The entire installation features a massive holographic water curtain on the surface of a lake, utilizing customized software and tracking technology. Participants can control it through sound and motion, with the animation changing based on the volume of their voices. When people sing and dance, they can also influence the patterns displayed.

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

3. Other Technologies

Of course, there are also augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies, which enhance the immersion of virtual reality (VR) and make spatial experiences more realistic. Multi-channel projection and laser projection display technologies are also significant. TeamLab’s museum in Japan utilizes over 500 computers and more than 600 projectors to create a large-scale interactive immersive experience. In 2021, the “Temple of Light” exhibition in Shanghai adopted cutting-edge 3LCD technology and the ULTRAX20 spatial audio system. The 3LCD technology involves a three-panel liquid crystal display that combines red, green, and blue primary colors within the projector, ensuring natural color transitions and brightness. It is widely used in art and commerce.

Creating an immersive art piece requires the coordination of various technologies. The top immersive art team, TeamLab, has over 400 employees, including image teams, interactive engineers, artists, architects, mathematicians, and others from diverse fields. Immersive art represents a large artistic domain, and the works may involve physics, mathematics, photography, lighting, projection, programming, and more. In this sense, immersive art is cross-disciplinary. In reality, cross-discipline has a broad concept, encompassing cross-regional, cross-linguistic, cross-disciplinary, and cross-industry interactions. In this rapidly developing era, cross-disciplinary cooperation has become commonplace, amplifying value. Therefore, immersive art is not just an artistic expression; it integrates technology and art, virtual and real, emotional and rational elements; it connects the audience with the work and the audience with each other. It is a comprehensive existence of art, culture, history, and social relationships.

5. Conclusion

With the advancement of science and technology bringing significant changes to human life, many things are undergoing innovative development in the new era. Technology leads art, and art inspires technology. The rapid development of science and technology has made it one of the crucial factors driving artistic innovation, and the combination of the two will create more sparks.

Currently, the term immersion is widely used in various contexts, becoming increasingly close to our lives. Immersive art aligns with contemporary trends, making it easily accepted and recognized. From the perspective of the subject, engaging with immersive art stimulates sensory functions to achieve “synesthesia,” allowing physiological recognition while also providing entertainment, enabling quick psychological acceptance and achieving a state of unity. From the perspective of the art itself, the blank spaces left by immersive art also allow viewers to exercise subjective creativity, connecting the relationships between the theme, environment, and world. Due to its inherent characteristics, immersive art has become a vibrant and competitive artistic form. Throughout history, humanity has created a wealth of wisdom and resources. While traditional crafts face the impact of the new industrial era, they also encounter opportunities and challenges. China’s traditional crafts are where national cohesion lies, representing a unique quality in the world. The ultimate exploration of art will return to its most original state. The thoughts embedded within technological craftsmanship reflect an understanding of time, space, the universe, and nature. The illustrations and forms displayed in craft art also interpret the concepts of traditional culture and the era in which they exist, such as the round sky and square earth, the balance of yin and yang, and the harmony of masculine and feminine. Just as immersive art prompts people to reflect on nature and their perceptions, bringing viewers into the space aligns with the Taoist principle of “wu wei” (non-action). Immersive art transforms overlooked aspects of life into visible results. It fosters awareness of the relationship between humans and society, as well as between humans and nature, prompting reflection and insights. In this way, tradition and modernity can reconnect. The long-term development of traditional crafts requires continuous innovation rooted in the cultural connotations behind them. The aesthetic approach of immersive art allows viewers to enter the field, shifting from appreciating beauty to feeling beauty, enabling a deeper and more multidimensional understanding of the work’s connotation and value. Immersive art can open new avenues for the development of traditional crafts, and there is still a long way to go regarding development, models, and marketing. However, what we can see is that the future path of traditional crafts will become increasingly bright.

Source: Watch and Inherit Public Account

(The above text and images are sourced from the internet. If there are any disputes regarding the ownership of this text or images, please contact me.)

Research on Immersive Expression of Traditional Crafts

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