Opening Day at the Show
This past Friday, opening day of the show, I stepped into “Beyond Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience,” in Cobo Hall, Detroit, MI, expecting to be immersed in the work of Vincent Van Gogh.
I have to say, it was not quite what I expected, and the more I look into it, I think it might not be what anyone expects.
If you’ve been on the internet, you’ve seen ads for the Van Gogh Experience show as it makes the rounds in cities around the world. You’ve seen images of awestruck patrons watching in wonder as bright images drawn from Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings animate across tall, broad walls and columns, bringing the work to life. It looks magical and, like the name suggests, immersive.
The Detroit Experience: The Mundane
We had tickets for the 10:30 show, one of the earliest of the day. As there was another event at Cobo, the parking structure was nearly full, and completely full as we left an hour later. Expect to hoof it from another parking lot if you have tickets on a heavily attended day.
The Detroit Experience: The Magical
After the attendant scanned our tickets we were told the first room is educational. As we entered we saw backlit plinths aglow with enlarged images of abstracted patterns from Van Gogh paintings. Atop this are quotes drawn from letters Vincent wrote to his beloved brother, Theo. The text tells the viewer of the artist’s inner philosophy as an artist, his goals, his struggles. It is clear that he was a deep thinker and a sensitive person and reading his words again was satisfying and set the stage well.
I spent about 15 minutes in this room and felt sufficiently steeped in the artists thoughts to properly enjoy the magic of his work.
I walked to the entrance of the next room and stepped inside. What I saw was a large room with a number of columns constructed of what appeared to be vinyl. The walls were also covered floor to ceiling in the same material. Every surface was bathed in the projected moving images drawn from Van Gogh’s work. Cherry branches and blossoms unfurled across the floor, the walls, the columns. One after another the scenes shifted from one of his paintings to another. Music filled the space, overlaid with snatches of spoken-word quotes in French, Dutch, and English. It lent ambiance, but it was all too indistinct to understand, in my opinion.
Then, it happened. As a former software developer, I cringed when I looked to the far wall and saw the blue screen of death. Evidently one of the computers running the video show crashed and patrons were entertained for several protracted minutes to a series of error and reboot messages. It was sloppy and distracting with no planned redundancy for quick recovery.
That, coupled with an OCD-triggering, off-kilter twist to one of the columns and the blinding glare of smart phone flashlights as other patrons brazenly videotaped the show, complete with running commentary, prevented any sort of immersive feel.
The Detroit Experience: The Misled
Across the room, in plain view near the opposite corner of the room, I saw an exit sign. Yes, one step inside, I could see the exit sign, it was that small.
This was it.
One room.
$32.99 to stand in one room for an hour.
Whether I should have or not, I expected more.
The World Experience
When I sat down to write this review I Googled the show so that I would have the correct name of it. What I found was, there is not one Van Gogh immersive show, but many, devised and produced by many event companies. Detroit alone has two such shows, the one I attended at Cobo, and another at “a secret venue situated in the heart of Detroit. To be announced before the exhibit opens.” As an article in The New York Times said, “In a world of competition, of course, people will try to replicate.” And replicate they did, to the point of a thinly watered down experience leaving the viewer thirsty for something more substantial.
The Detroit Experience: Wrap Up
I wonder, what would the humble and sensitive Vincent Van Gogh say to the Disney-fying of his life’s work? Would he be flattered, or horrified? Would he embrace or reject the technology of today and what the wielders of this light and sound have done to his vision?
None of us can know what he’d think, but I think it just feels wrong. Then again, I didn’t like The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, either.
What do you think?
I think that if you go, you should beef up your day with lunch in one of the many restaurants in Detroit. We had tasty tacos and libations at Bakersfield. Follow that up with a jaunt over to the Detroit Institute of Art, by appointment only as of this writing, to see original works by Vincent Van Gogh. What could be better than that?