Van Gogh Immersive Experience
Do you know about these immersive experiences?
They have started popping up, usually for short periods of time, in a city and then they move on. Well, where we live, a massive church building had become the home of the Van Gogh Immersive Experience for over 6 months. My family and I visited in its last few weeks. As we paid to be immersed in art, the lady kindly explained to the children how the experience worked. Volume should be kept to a minimum and all walls are screens so no touching!
The first segment was the main corridor, lined with large screens of Van Gogh’s art complimented by quotes and historical captions. I found this segment fascinating. I love learning the stories behind the art and what truly inspired the person to — with their talent. These accounts and quotes provided an immense about of insight into the tortured soul that was Vincent Van Gogh. I think I was most intrigued by the fact that many of the quotes were to his brother. Without ruining what you will learn, I’ll quickly say Vincent Van Gogh and his brother, Theo, were very close. Most of what we know about Vincent is because of his brother. A sweet touch to the sad story.
The older children read through these quotes and accounts with a solid understanding of the meaning and soulfulness. Though my 8-year-old was successful in reading the words, the deeper meaning in most was lost on her. She was at least able to tell me a few facts that she learned about the poor man.
The corridor reviewed the highlights of Van Gogh’s milestones, failures, and accomplishments until we came to a dimly lit room. Here we remained for a few minutes to allow our eyes to adjust to the lighting. Had I really understood the layout of the next section, I would have paused the children to bring their energy to a calmer place. I had anticipated a series of corridors where we could allow other families to pass by. However, we entered the sanctuary to find it a single space camouflaged by enormous screens with moving, scrolling, animated art. You could not see over, between or around the screens. I was not in a church.
Instead, I was immersed in Van Gogh.
It was a quiet and pensive place, and seeing as it was my former place of worship, and quite surreal. Small benches were provided at angles to see the various walls and columns. The artistic compilation was accompanied by beautiful music, wind, or a small voice recounting Van Gogh’s story. Thinking more deeply about Vincent’s sad life, the art became more real to me, more meaningful.
As I viewed the portraits, I wondered what conversations he had had with the individuals he painted. As the city scenes came to life, I’d imagine myself into a story of a woman going to the corner store in the painting to buy her bread or wandering these sullen streets simply living a beautifully simple life. But as Van Gogh did, I found the landscapes the greatest escape. When they blew onto the scene, I found myself delightfully feeling the wind and sun and wishing to lay in the knolls and relax. I found my mind opening to spaces so rarely visited as a successful solo mom…relaxing into creativity and imaginative story that breeds solution and enhances cognitive abilities. It was quite a personal experience and one I wished to remain in longer than the hour it took to show the picturesque film.
But alas, this lovely, pensive experience didn’t begin until I was able to get the children to sit still on the benches or floors taking in the art themselves. And of course, the experience ended as soon as they realized the film was beginning to repeat. Their minds had turned to the Sweet Pete’s candy shop, so to Sweet Pete’s we went.
I do recommend the Van Gogh Immersive Experience…though perhaps with a fellow art lover or even as a solo trek that is uninhibited by others needs to you can truly lose yourself in the masterpieces.