Digital art is a wide-open frontier in China and Shanghai eArts is trying to popularize it. International digital artist and designer John Maeda urges creative entrepreneurs to keep it simple, writes Pan Xiaoyi.Dressed all in black, John Maeda is a perfect example of simplicity and minimalism - pretty much like his digital art and graphic design.Named by Esquire magazine as one of the "21 Most Important People for the 21st Century," Japanese-American Maeda from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is known for his philosophy of simplicity in the digital age. He is also author of the book, "Laws of Simplicity" (there are 10, though he simplified it from around 20).Though "everyone lives a complex life," Maeda says, "simplicity is about living life with more enjoyment and less pain."On Tuesday, at the invitation of Shanghai eArts 2007, Maeda lectured on "Digitalized or Non-Digitalized" at the Creative Entrepreneurship Seminar with students from Shanghai Tongji and Shanghai Fishery universities. It was hosted by MIT Media Lab and held in the Knowledge and Innovation Community in the city's northeast Yangpu District.The month-long eArts festival, the first of its kind in Shanghai, aims to popularize digital art among the general public. The seminar explores the international electronic art scene and the interconnection between environment and the creative industry in developed countries."Digital art requires money. The hardest thing about it is that no teachers teach digital art," says Maeda. "This sounds depressing, but it's also exciting because it is starting up and has great potential. Just like the process of learning to fly, someone has to fly first. I never fly, I just glide."Maeda, a founding voice for simplicity in the digital age, broke the ice with humor at the beginning of his lecture. "I am lucky because I am good at both mathematics and arts. I went to MIT because I'm good at mathematics; and when I wanted to escape mathematics, I went to art school."Maeda first made his mark by redefining the use of electronic media as a tool for expression for people of all ages and skills.Associate director of research at the MIT Media Lab since 1996, computer scientist Maeda co-directs the lab's design-oriented Physical Language Workshop and its Simplicity consortium."I had a good teacher, who is a traditional artist. When I told him I wanted to be a traditional artist just like him, he convinced me that 'when you are young, do something young. When you are old, the tradition is always there.' So I went back to the computers," says Maeda.He found that he could create complex images and works through simple computer programs. From then on, he started his study of "simplicity." What's interesting about "simplicity" is that he worked out 10 laws for it, which does not seem simple at all. And he admits, he started out with around 20 rules at first.Rule No. 1: Reduce. Rule No. 10: Simplicity is about subtracting the obvious and adding the meaningful. And, Rule No. 5: Some things just can't be made simple. The book is about balancing simplicity and complexity in business, technology and design.Talking about China's late start in the digital art scene, Maeda says: "What matters is not to catch up. It's about how to go beyond digital creativity," Maeda says. "Every country uses Adobe Photoshop, so all digital arts look the same. It's hard to catch up, let alone exceed."The important thing is to be creative no matter with or without technologies. You have to look for something new."