A review from 5D Music & Theatre writer Maria Robertson.
Having previously seen photos of friends attending this in Glasgow I was keen to go when it was announced as coming to Aberdeen, especially as my son’s favourite artist is Van Gogh. We visited some of his work in the Musée d’Orsay back in 2022 so it was great to be able to share the immersive experience with him.
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The start of the exhibition is a walk through of information about the artist’s life with some empty hanging picture frames, ideal for a selfie as a momento of your visit. Once the scene is set we walk into the large space where the projected art works appear, it features music written exclusively for the experience and includes 300 art works of Van Gogh. These are artistically woven together and move through the different subjects of sea, and sky, normal people’s portraits, internal rooms, flowers including the sunflowers of course, and his infamous self portraits.
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My son retains information better than my menopausal brain so as we were immersed in the artworks he explained that Van Gogh signed things as Vincent as he thought that name was easier for people to say and remember. He tended to paint members of his family rather than go to the expense of paying models to pose. Also that any self portraits usually favoured one side so as to hide the ear he severed.
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My favourite bit was as the starry sky came up onto the walls and it felt like I was falling into the sky above, a strange mind bending that was a rather joyful happening. Also sharing my son’s excitement as he awaited the self portraits of Van Gogh that he really likes and having him point out the various features. It’s a wonderful thing to see youngsters engage with art, and it was him telling me to get off my phone as I tried to capture the moment to share with others afterwards.
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He had a point, once I got home I realised I should have been more “in the moment”, this experience is one that we should give into and fully immerse our senses in. I did thoroughly enjoy it at the time but if you go please do focus on experiencing it fully rather than trying to capture it. I was too self conscious to lie on the floor and soak it in as I felt inspired to. Several people did, or used the seats scattered around. We did enjoy at the end when there are colouring in sheets to use and take away. We used the provided pencils for quite some time before my son suggested taking it home to finish together at some point over the holidays.
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The exhibition is in Aberdeen from Saturday 12th July to Sunday 10th August so you have plenty of chances to experience the wonder. There are also opportunities to do yoga, pilates or painting within it at certain times which would be utterly inspiring.
Further information: https://www.pandjlive.com/events/beyond-van-gogh-the-immersive-experience/
Maria Robertson is the Chief Music & Theatre Writer for the 5D Pop Culture Website and provides reviews & coverage of local Aberdeen music & theatre gigs. She’s an experienced writer for numerous sources and is a self-confessed live gig addict ever since seeing The Counting Crows at the Barrowlands in 1994.
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