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Stepping into Art: A Review of Beyond Van Gogh
Remember when you were a kid, putting a kaleidoscope to your eye, twisting it to get the visual overload of swirling colors and patterns? Imagine if you could walk through that kaleidoscope! Through the use of cutting-edge projection technology and an original score, Beyond Van Gogh breathes new life into over 300 of Vincent Van Gogh’s artworks.
Entering the exhibit, the first room is full of Baroque paintings to get you in the appreciation zone for beautiful artworks by various artists. The second room has a string of many large canvases with colorful splashes serving as the backdrop for a sampling of Van Gogh’s many messages to his younger brother, Theo, giving us some insight into who the painter was. The brothers were very close and it didn’t hurt that Theo was an art dealer who got Vincent on the artist map.
From here you exit into the Waterfall Room for a visual explosion of changing color, mesmerizing you for five minutes. If you choose to stay here for the full rotation, you will see five different images of Van Gogh cascading down the wall, dripping onto the floor and washing toward you amongst all the other melding colors. Imagine if he were alive today to see this spectacle!
Next you enter the main room of the experience, showing many of Van Gogh’s most popular works. They remain stationary for a bit so you can see them in their full splendor, although you may catch a portrait winking if you don’t look away! You continue watching as images larger than the walls they’re cast on roll across the room like a giant wave of changing color and imagery (If you are prone to motion sickness or vertigo, you may want to close your eyes during these times or take a motion sickness pill prior to arrival). The entire rotation here takes about 37 minutes, and you might want to plan to watch it twice. There’s so much going on, if you blink you might miss something!
There is limited seating, but you might even choose to lie on the floor to further immerse yourself in the flood of visuals. Of course there’s a neat gift shop that you will walk through as you exit. Grab a sweatshirt with sunflowers on it, or perhaps a framed image of a skeleton smoking a cigarette.
One could argue that viewing these images larger than life defeats the purpose of seeing them the way they were meant to be seen. We see a realm of impressionism, minus the revelation of how the artist transitioned into this style of painting. It might have been nice to see smaller replicas of the original artworks for comparison. However, that isn’t the purpose of the immersive experience. Comprised of over four trillion content pixels, this high-resolution portrayal of Van Gogh’s work gives you the opportunity to literally immerse yourself into his paintings like never before.
This exciting new way of experiencing Van Gogh’s artwork is currently traveling the world, and we are fortunate to welcome the attraction for several weeks at the Providence Convention Center. Occupying over 30,000 sq ft, Beyond Van Gogh is the largest immersive experience in the country, offering guests plenty of room to safely enjoy the exhibit.
It takes about one hour to walk through the exhibit, which runs through July 8. For more information, visit VanGoghProvidence.com or call 1-800-441-0819.
Step into World Famous Paintings with Magical Reflections VR/XR Experience
We take and share about one trillion digital images each year and among the most popular images being shared are selfies taken in front of famous objects, places and monuments.
Meta and Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin have collaborated with International production company makemepulse to create ‘Magical Reflections’, a VR/XR experience which connects visual and virtual arts, captures the creative vision of the old masters, and transforms their iconic artworks into virtual photography hotspots.
Check out the full experience here.
Magical Reflections is a cinematographic 3D gallery showcasing multiple works of the iconic artist Johann Erdmann Hummel all on display at the renowned Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin. One feature invites visitors into The Granite Dish, one of Hummels most iconic paintings. The visitor can step inside the artwork, navigate a defined area of the painting and using virtual photography, take a snapshot and share on Facebook enabling them to be fully immersed into the artwork.
Virtual photography is a growing movement and started out in video games. What might have initially been intended by developers as a novel way to get players to share screenshots of a game on social media – and get it trending – has led to, some claim, the birth of a genuine new artform. In Magical Reflections it allows the visitor to observe the piece from a different and unique perspective – their own – and experience the story Hummel wanted to tell in his painting.
In the main gallery inspired by the interior of the real-life Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, art lovers are able to view a variety of paintings, zoom in for a closer look and rotate the camera to experience the piece in multiple angles, often with subtle changes of light depending on the angle – as if in a real life gallery.
Dr. Ralph Gleis, director of Alte Nationalgalerie said: “The Alte Nationalgalerie is always on the lookout for new ways to make its collections and exhibitions accessible to the widest and most diverse audience possible, including through digital offerings – not only since the start of the pandemic. In the case of Johann Erdmann Hummel, the rediscovery of this artist can now take place in a new way in a Virtual Experience. Virtual photography also opens up a new creative approach to Hummel’s works. We are delighted with this successful cooperation with Meta, which made this expansion into digital space possible.” – Dr. Ralph Gleis, Director of Alte Nationalgalerie
Christina Keller, director creative shop Central Europe, Meta added: “Together with makemepulse and the Berlin Alte Nationalgalerie we took the first steps towards creating an immersive XR art experience. This project shows all that is possible on the way to the metaverse, a series of virtual spaces where we can experience things together with other people. Building experiences towards the Metaverse in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders, including cultural institutions and artists, is important to make sure that we include diverse perspectives to make this vision a reality.”
Nicolas Rajabaly, co-founder & CCO makemepulse also commented: “The arrival of Meta has born a newfound digital culture, one in which provides very exciting possibilities. Magical Reflections not only allows us to create an immersive experience for a national gallery, iconic artist and world famous artwork, but also to integrate a sharable, social element with the fusion of virtual photography.”
A VR version of the experience using Oculus VR technology is also available.
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