Immersed in Van Gogh

The Emperor Has No Clothes

Have you seen it advertised yet? It’s all the rage. The rage is Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience. This experience now runs in over 20 cities within the USA, with a chunk more world wide. So, being the obedient husband, I accompanied my wife to this art immersion. I allowed myself to be immersed in Van Gogh. Undoubtedly, the popular immersion will make me a better and more sophisticated human. However, after surviving my immersion, perhaps improving my sophistication is just a lost cause. Allow me to remind you of the classic tale, “The Emperor’s New Clothes.” The brave child in the tale defied the masses and said, “the Emperor has no clothes.” Inspired by that child, I too must admit my ignorance and proclaim…”Van Gogh has no clothes.”

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One Major Troubled Soul

Now, for a bit of background, allow me to share my 5 minutes of Wikipedia research on Van Gogh. Van Gogh was born in 1853 and only lived 37 years. He tried has hand as a art dealer, missionary, and a couple other vocations. But, he pretty much failed at most of his endeavors. To be sensitive, he was undoubtedly a victim of serous mental illness. His mental illness lead to depression, alcoholism, and generally poor health. Yes, as most people know, he even managed to cut off most of his own ear during one of his fits. Eventually, he shot himself in the chest and died at age 37.

So, with that happy life story, the good news is that he found a bit of twisted focus in the last 10 years of his life. Living with his parents and supported by his more functional younger brother, Van Gogh started to paint. He painted like no other artist ever painted. Amazingly, he cranked out over 2,000 paintings in the final 10 years of his life. That’s more than a painting every other day! Predictably, Van Gogh never became big time during his life. His fame was due to his sister-in-law. She ended up with most of his paintings after his death. She introduced the paintings to the art world and made Van Gogh famous. Many people profited from Van Gogh’s painting. But, Van Gogh only got a bullet to the chest.

From Troubled Soul to Screen Saver

Now, review the following photos and I will attempt to explain the Van Gogh immersion…

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So, what is an immersion? You get ushered into a big rectangular room. Then, you find your socially distanced immersion spot. Some spots have uncomfortable benches, while other circles offer nothing. As you try in vain to get comfortable, Van Gogh paintings are projected on the walls and floor on a continuous loop. You are completely surrounded by Vincent’s work. Thus, it is an “immersion.” It reminded me of being trapped in one big Van Gogh screen saver, phasing from one painting to the next. The entire continuous loop is only 35 minutes. But, BEWARE! They do NOT make you leave. Sadly, you can stay through as many loops as you want…not ideal.

Surviving Immersion

So, how did I manage to survive my immersion? My phone and blog were the key. As Carol insisted on yet another viewing loop, I calmed my mind by thinking about how I would mock it in my blog. I took pictures with this calming thought in mind. At one point, I even used my phone in an attempt to create my own Van Gogh interactive art…

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Now, to be more constructive, I can recommend some improvements to the immersion.

1. Alcohol must be served. DUH!
2. Better seating. How about those big red loungers that the movie theatres now have.
3. Husbands are encouraged to leave after one loop to wait in the aforementioned bar

Beyond a doubt, these recommendations would make the immersion 100 times better.

Anyway, that is Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience. Now, for full transparency, I can understand the argument that this is NOT Americana. It’s an elitist, high tech art show about some twisted Dutch guy. How is this Americana? How can this be appropriate for the blog? Well, is there anything more Americana than one spouse enduring a heinous interest of the other spouse. For example, the poor husband surviving the musical theatre. The poor wife surviving yet another football game…whatever the case. If your marriage is going to last through the years, it is important to find ways to survive trials like being immersed in Van Gogh. Have a wonderful day. PT

I hope you have enjoyed “Immersed in Van Gogh” on Traveling with PugsleyTonks

If that was too much culture, read this to balance yourself back out… https://travelingwithpt.com/take-on-the-thurmanator/

If you want to be immersed, read up https://vangoghexpo.com/

p.s. Of course, there was a gift shop. The tacky Van Gogh key chain was my favorite

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