Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience – London

A review of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, my first time at one of these block-busting, crowd-pleasing shows. Is it gimmicky? Sure. But it’s also fun and educational.

Immersive Art Experiences

The Immersive Experience. These things have popped up everywhere. Most major cities must have had one by now. And a lot of them are Van Gogh themed. It makes sense – even non art lovers tend to like Van Gogh, and his paintings certainly engage the senses. In fact they’ve become so popular that London has had two immersive Van Gogh experiences this year. I’m a sucker for my Instagram algorithm so bought tickets for the first one I spotted on there. It turned out to be the one near Spitalfields (by Exhibition Hub and Fever) rather than the one in Hyde Park (by Grande Exhibitions).

I think there are a few reasons why these experiences are so popular. Firstly, they pick big names. The next two to hit London are the Sistine Chapel, and Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera. Definite crowd-pleasers. And they generate social-media friendly content. There are things you can pose in front of; things you can turn into interesting videos or images. Given that even restaurants and hotels are now often thinking about curating experiences for social media, it can’t be a surprise that this is a driving factor here.

But lastly, I feel like these immersive art experiences break down some of the barriers to entry that traditional museums and art galleries may have. For people who aren’t familiar with these spaces, art galleries can be intimidating. There are written and unwritten rules about how you have to behave. You may not ‘get’ the art, which might be embarrassing or frustrating. Or you might think from past experience that museum exhibitions are boring. The only barrier for these immersive exhibitions is price – otherwise the atmosphere is more relaxed, and the staff more willing to tell you exactly what to expect. Something to ponder for the museum professional.

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience

Since this is my first immersive art experience I don’t know if they’re all set up in a similar way, but I imagine they might be. In this case, there are three main parts to it. First of all there is a ‘setting the scene’ section which aims to educate. There are some videos and life-sized dioramas (like Van Gogh’s bedroom), but it’s mainly about communicating information. We learn about Van Gogh’s life, techniques and subject matter. We connect specific places in his paintings to what was going on in his life. There is some information on his connection to art history and Japanese art in particular. And we get the facts straight about the reception of Van Gogh’s art in his lifetime and after it.

There is a pretty strong curatorial voice here: I was a bit dubious about the claim that Van Gogh was definitely colour blind, for instance. I looked it up and there has been some debate about this but it’s not a confirmed fact. But I think this is perhaps playing to the audience – people aren’t here for nuanced discussion of different viewpoints. They’re here for a fun experience. Anything they might learn is almost incidental.

The second part is a virtual reality experience that lasts 10 minutes. It’s included with VIP tickets, or an additional £5 with standard tickets. It’s definitely worth it, I think I enjoyed this the most. It isn’t interactive like the VR at Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser, but the technology has already come a long way since the ‘artist studio’ experience at Modigliani a few years ago. You float variously through rooms, fields, a forest and the town of Arles, with Van Gogh’s paintings overlaid at various points. It’s well-executed, and made me feel more connected to Van Gogh as a person. Highly recommended.

Van Gogh As Sound And Light Show

So that brings us to the third part, which I guess is the actual immersive part of the immersive experience. This is a large room, with light projections onto the walls and floor. The projections take elements from the paintings and bring them to life: horses moving through a field, for instance, or self portraits projected into window niches.

This is also where the relaxed environment really comes into play. People are moving around. There are deck chairs and benches scattered around, or you can sit on the floor. You can chat amongst yourselves, and nobody minds. I found it to be a very relaxing experience, and we stayed for a full cycle of projections – maybe 20 minutes? I lost track of time.

Overall, I enjoyed Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience enough to immediately start planning trips to see the Sistine Chapel or Kahlo/Rivera ones. I will still always value the ‘aura’ of seeing an original work of art. But if you treat this as a fun experience for art lovers, or even just a different way to spend an evening, it’s very enjoyable. For this reason, I don’t particularly recommend that you try this exact immersive experience. But if one of them takes your fancy or comes to your town, then go for it!

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 3.5/5

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience currently booking until April 2022