Monday 5 July 2021

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience

Some time ago I went with friends to see "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" at Peres Park in Holon. The exhibition, which made its way to Israel from Europe, features 900 of Van Gogh's creations in a unique 360° sound and light show. The different periods in Van Gogh's life and the stories behind his paintings take on a new dimension and, thanks to cutting edge virtual projection, I was able to immerse myself in Vincent Van Gogh's world for a brief but wonderful time. 
The sound and light show let us discover the life of Van Gogh in a new way: his time at the convent and in Arles, the secrets from the letters he wrote to his brother and much more. Van Gogh was too poor to pay models, so red poppies, blue corn flowers and yellow chrysanthemums became as important to him as women. And of course, sunflowers - for which he painted 11 canvas versions - might as well have been the sun for him on many of his down days. The artist is thought to have struggled through mental disabilities and lived off money he borrowed from his brother, who supported his art career. Van Gogh sold just one painting during his lifetime for 400 francs in 1890, despite the fact his brother was actually an art dealer.
The exhibit did an excellent job of bringing the 900 paintings, and many more drawings and sketches Van Gogh created, to life. A 30 minute film ran using the white walls of the tented exhibition space as the canvas. Digital images of his work poured over the walls at unimaginable sizes. And because Van Gogh is known for having painted the same scenes over and over again, curators played with that, showing the three or more paintings Van Gogh made of the same subject one after another and in the same spot. The moving images highlighted the slight differences in the paintings, whether it be the size of a woman's nose or the chair placement in a painting of his bedroom. Many of these repetitive works include the many self portraits Van Gogh painted. At the end of the film, clouds rolled in and washed all the images away. Then the film repeated itself.
Our next stop was the must-see virtual reality tour. We strapped on Oculus goggles and were guided through a virtual, colourful depiction of Van Gogh's life, from his room, the meadows, the forest, the village and ending with Starry Night over the River Rhône. At each stop we saw a virtual reality image of a scene from his life, whether two peasants laying in hay or a bridge over a waterway. Then a virtual frame dropped down, morphing the scene into a mimic of one of his original paintings - in virtual reality of course. This part of the exhibition was probably my favourite.
After a full year of not visiting any museums or art exhibitions, "Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience" was indeed a fabulous experience!

25 comments:

Carol @Comfort Spring Station said...

Such an amazing exhibition - I'd love to experience the Van Gogh presentation. Your beautiful photos really took me along on the trip. Thank you.

Kim Carberry said...

What a great experience. Van Gogh's art work really is stunning.

Anne said...

We have the Van Gogh experience at our theatre at the moment. I was really tempted to book tickets but we couldn't book the dates and times that suited us and were accessible. It was nice to share your experience.

Tamar SB said...

I am going to the one in NY today!! Cannot wait!

Miss Val's Creations said...

This immersive experience looks amazing! There was a Van Gogh exhibit in the city here a couple of years ago but it was nothing like this one! He painted some really unique pieces.

Sheltie Times said...

I was thinking what a great way to jump back into after lockdown.

EricaSta said...

Wow... what a exhibit. Van Gogh is always fantastisc. Thank you for sharing.

Louise (Little Hearts, Big Love) said...

That exhibition sounds amazing and I particularly love the sound of the virtual reality experience. I'm very tempted to try and get tickets to see this in London now! #MMBC

NCSue said...

Friends of mine just went to see this in North Carolina and enjoyed it very much.
Thanks for sharing at https://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2021/07/a-favorite-place-to-visit.html

Cheryl said...

What an interesting way to show how his art transformed over time. Love the idea of one version overlaying another to show the difference. Must have been very liberating to be back in an art exhibition again. #wotw

VeggieMummy said...

L bought me tickets to this for Mother's Day this year. They're for December, so I've a while to look forward to it. You've made me really excited to see it and I'm glad you had a lovely time. xx

Lady Fi said...

Wow - fabulous!

Claire Justine said...

This looks like a great exhibition. I would love to see this :)

Thanks so much for linking up to Creative Mondays

#CreativeMondaysLinkUp

William Kendall said...

This is being held here for a month or so very soon.

Thisiswhereitisat said...

Wow this looks incredible, what an experience to have x #mmbc

colleen said...

I went to the Monet immersion in Paris and it was fantastic. I would go again if one came to D.C.

Fun60 said...

thank you for the post and information. I am going to see it in November and can't wait.

Jackie McGuinness said...

Wasn't it fantastic! We saw it in Paris in 2019 and then here in Toronto in 2020 and loved it each time.

Tom said...

...Van Gogh must have been quite a character in his day. He sure pushed the boundaries with his art. Thanks for joining the party, enjoy a great week.

Joanne said...

I am so jealous!! I have been wanting to see that show but it hasn't come anywhere near us. That looks incredible.

Shiju Sugunan said...

He was such a fascinating artist. This exhibition you attended seems to be most amazing.

Dixie @ Arranged Words said...

Such a wonderful experience. Good for you!
Thank you for sharing.

mvmaithai said...

Hello!
I got the opportunity to see it in Feb this year at the Dali Museum in St Pete, Florida. It wasn't as big a production like yours. We didn't get to do the reality show. Still, it was interesting.

You might be interested in this post I wrote about a Van Gogh-painted house, also in Florida Van Gogh House in Mount Dora, Fl

jeshie2 said...

It always amazes me how popular van Gogh is. I saw him many years ago in his museum in Amsterdam. Don't know if his financial status was the reason for lack of portraits (he did actually painted his friends). Landscape painting is still very popular in Holland. Me thinks it shows his stubborn Dutch side, in not giving in to the fashions of his time, lol. 900 paintings - now I don't feel bad anymore about transporting 85+ paintings when we moved to Texas:) Great chatting with you, Jeshie2

betty-NZ said...

How interesting and wonderful to see these displays!

It's great to see your link at 'My Corner of the World' this week!