[This short piece from TimeOut Tokyo provides information about a touring exhibition that uses floor-to-ceiling projections and corresponding sounds to immerse visitors in the paintings of Claude Monet and other Impressionists. See the original version for four different images. For more information see the website for the Florence version of the exhibition and the 3:15 minute Monet Experience Official Trailer via YouTube, and the website for the current version of the exhibition in Brussels and a 4:15 minute video visit. A 2018 post in ISPR Presence News describes an immersive VR exploration of Monet’s ‘Water Lilies.’ –Matthew]
[Image: Screenshot graphic from the Immersive Museum website.]
Immersive Museum in Tennozu is turning Monet’s Water Lilies into digital art installations
By Emma Steen
February 18 2020
Some paintings are so beautiful you just want to walk straight into them – and soon you’ll be able to do just that. The upcoming Immersive Museum at Terada Warehouse in Tennozu, opening April 17, will be themed on Impressionism, the art movement started in 19th century France exploring the qualities of light, from the way it shines across water to its momentary changes in colour.
The pioneer of this movement, Claude Monet, was initially ridiculed for his new style of painting, which consisted of painting thin, rapid strokes using vivid colours, but is now recognised as one of the greatest artists of his time. Shortly before his death, Monet set out to create a painting people could immerse themselves in. With the aim of bringing beauty to those who had suffered through the First World War, he painted his famous ‘Water Lillies’ series, which is still displayed in the oval rooms of Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris in the way Monet had suggested. The shapes of the rooms help visitors detach from the outside world and be fully absorbed in the paintings surrounding them.
This new immersive art museum at Terada Warehouse takes Monet’s goal one step further, using floor-to-ceiling projections to fill entire rooms with Monet’s art. The exhibition will project eight works by Monet, including some from the ‘Water Lilies’ and ‘Houses of Parliament’ series. Several of Monet’s fellow impressionists will also be featured, including Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir and Mary Cassatt, for a total of 70 installations. As you move across the space, taking in the art, you’ll hear sounds designed to match the projections and draw you further into the world of each painting.
These immersive installations will be on display from April 17 until August 12 2020. General admission is ¥2,500 for adults, ¥1,500 for junior high school students, ¥800 for elementary school students and free for younger children.
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To see more immersive digital art in Tokyo, check out teamLab Borderless in Odaiba or teamLab Planets in Toyosu; the latter is open through autumn 2020.