Describe the creative idea

The problem of plastic pollution in our oceans is a global problem. Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium, an aquarium with the theme of symbiosis with nature, holds a special exhibition “The Ocean: Future Masterpieces” to appeal to public opinion the seriousness of this problem from Sendai bordering the Pacific Ocean. So we first selected seven of the most famous painting in the world depicting the beauty of the ocean. Then we used simulation to estimate the volume of plastic waste in our oceans in the year 2050. Finally, we had an AI study the seven works – as well as the simulation’s results – and recreate every painting as if produced in the year 2050. Then, we displayed the works at the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium. The exhibition has been featured in many media, and about 30,000 people visited in 10 days.

Describe the execution

We realized that the general public was more likely to have experienced beautiful scenes of the ocean through art than through in-person experience. So, we first selected seven of the most famous paintings in the world depicting the beauty of the ocean. Then, we used simulation to estimate the volume of plastic waste in our oceans in the year 2050 and we estimated how much plastic waste would appear in the oceans in each of the paintings, and then we added images of actual plastic waste to the paintings. We then prepared high-resolution data from each of the paintings of the ocean and trained the AI over 200,000 times to replicate the brushstrokes of each artist using a machine learning algorithm called Neural Style Transfer. We used the AI to transfer the waste images to look like each painter painted them. To make the brushstrokes more realistic, we printed these paintings with a 3D printer in the same size as the original painting.