This series of paintings depicts natural landscapes that resembles the mountains and trees in traditional Chinese paintings. Xu Zhen found these images on Google Maps, and then uses the aesthetics of traditional Chinese painting to filter these digital landscapes, reintroducing the concept of “qi” (vital energy) in nature and expanding the perspective and methodology of traditional Chinese landscape painting. The terrain seen during searches on digital maps is not encountered as it is in the real environment but appears as data on a screen. From the perspective of ancient Chinese painting, mountains and trees are not just physical forms; they symbolize “qi” and the natural order. This represents the harmonization of two different technological approaches and cultural logics. Here, digital tools serve as a means to explore forms, which are then transformed through ink painting.

In this painting, the ancient cypress is depicted as strong and twisting, resembling the shape of a coiling dragon or a serpent. The artist studied the crab-claw brush technique of Northern Song dynasty painter Guo Xi to execute this work. The intricate form of the ancient cypress is derived from a bird’s-eye view of the northeastern section of the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Google Satellite Map. The artist employs the aesthetics of traditional Chinese painting to filter the digital landscape, reintroducing the concept of “Qi” (vital energy) from nature and expanding the perspectives and methods of traditional Chinese landscape painting.