Immersive Exhibitions and Playful Museums: When the Museum Becomes a Format
Exhibitions showcasing the works of Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Frida Kahlo have transformed iconic artworks into expansive projections. Locations such as the Museum of Illusions and the Museum of Ice Cream incorporate museum terminology to create engaging, interactive experiences. This traveling format enables cities lacking significant art collections to present artistic interpretations, mirroring the way many people experience art digitally. Nonetheless, these projections forfeit intricate details like brushstrokes and canvas texture, impacting the audience's perception. While immersive settings direct focus through movement and sound, traditional artworks allow viewers to select their points of interest. The word 'museum' suggests collections and education, while attractions based on visual illusions emphasize social interaction and spectacle. This piece is part of designboom's SPECTATOR AND SPECTACLE chapter, in collaboration with SolidNature.
Key facts
- Immersive exhibitions have transformed works by Vincent van Gogh, Claude Monet and Frida Kahlo into large-scale projected environments with moving images, music and animation.
- The Museum of Illusions relies on the visitor's body, using perspective, scale and mirrors to complete optical effects that are difficult to understand from an empty installation view.
- The Museum of Ice Cream uses color, scale and participatory installations to create a sequence of experiences designed to be photographed and shared.
- Touring immersive exhibitions allow cities without collections of Van Gogh or Monet paintings to host experiences based on their work.
- When The Starry Night becomes a moving projection, the physical qualities of the painting—brushstrokes, paint thickness, canvas texture and subtle color variations—are no longer available in the same way.
- The dimensions of a painting change in projection, and with them the scale the artist chose.
- A painting stays still and lets the viewer decide where to look and how long to remain; an immersive projection changes that relationship through movement, shifting light and music.
- The article is part of designboom's SPECTATOR AND SPECTACLE chapter, presented in partnership with SolidNature.
Entities
Artists
Institutions
- Museum of Illusions
- Museum of Ice Cream
- Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience
- Monet: The Immersive Experience
- Frida Kahlo – BEYOND the Icon
- designboom
- SolidNature