Jie Qi’s ‘Pu Gong Ying Tu’ combines traditional painting elements with technology.
From the MIT High-Low Tech group, ‘Pu Gong Ying Tu’ (Dandelion Painting) is an interactive painting by Jie Qi in collaboration with John Clifford, and with guidance from Brian Chan. When a viewer blows on the white dandelions in the painting, the seeds scatter and create new flowers in the painting. These begin as yellow dandelions, which bloom after a few moments into more responsive white seed puffs.
The painting is part of a series called Programmable Paintings, which blend traditional painting elements with the intelligence and interactivity of technology. It was created using microphones, LEDs, and microcontrollers. A microphone placed behind each dandelion listens for wind, while the yellow and white LED lights (which can be coded to brighten or dim) act as dynamic programmable paint strokes that make up the petals and seeds. Check out the interactive painting in the video below: