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This article was taken from the November 2012 issue of Wired magazine. Be the first to read Wired's articles in print before they're posted online, and get your hands on loads of additional content by <span class="s1">subscribing online.
Ever think paintings are a bit static? Jie Qi, from the High-Low Tech Media Group, took a traditional Chinese paper painting of a dandelion field and made it interactive: blow on the white puffs (backlit by LEDs) and the seeds fly off to make new flowers. The piece, called Pu Gong Ying Tu, is part of Qi's Programmable Paintings series. "I fell in love with how simple yet magical this interaction was -- because the technology made sense and was somehow very human," she says.
Underneath the painting is a layer of circuitry, comprising microcontrollers, LEDs and microphones, that "listens" for the wind. The circuits also look like a work of art: "I created the electronics based on the painting," Qi says. "Basically, I tried to draw as much as possible with the circuitry, to make the electronics match the aesthetics of the painting."
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
