The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon

WHY WE LOVE ATLANTA

One advantage of having an online journal is its virtual reach over a range of cultures and into the lives of as many readers as we can find who in turn find interest in The Grapevine. We are grounding our journal by paying attention to Atlanta, north by northwest in the state of Georgia, USA, Planet Earth. Most of us who write for The Grapevine live and move and have our being in or nearby Atlanta.

by Nancy Law

VAN GOGH: THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE: A Christmas Family Outing

Atlanta has a rich variety of places to go out all year long. For the past several years, I have arranged a family outing during the Christmas season. My sister began this tradition by taking all of us to see Alliance Theater's annual presentation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol every December for several years, and I have continued it. It's usually the only time the entire family is together. My family includes a son, a daughter, three granddaughters (and sometimes a boyfriend and/or a girlfriend), my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew.

For a long time, while watching A Christmas Carol, at the Alliance Theater, we all loved Chris Kayser as Scrooge. Then that production moved to the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center while the Alliance was being remodeled. Although Chris had retired as Scrooge, we still loved the performance on these outings. We've also seen Cirque du Soleil at the Grand Chapiteau in Atlantic Station and the new Cyclorama at the Atlanta History Center. We always conclude by having a meal at a nearby restaurant, where we exchange Christmas presents and discuss what we have seen, along with lively conversations about what we have done during the past year.

Because of the pandemic in 2020, we didn't go anywhere or have a family gathering during the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays. During the second week of February 2021, when concerns about Covid were modified by social distancing and maskwearing practices, my sister sent an email about an event entitled Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, produced by Italian art director Mario Lacampo, CEO of Exhibition Hub, in conjunction with the company Fever which has developed "a social event discovery platform designed to improve the way people make plans." Further, "The company's platform offers a curated and personalized list of local events based on user preferences around multiple cities, enabling users to easily book events and get access to top tourist attractions and activities." All done on the Fever app. Lacampo is also the producer who brought "Cavalia," a memorable show combiniing acrobatics and beautiful horses that we all enjoyed, to Atlanta in 2011.

The following is a description of Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience from the Fever website:

Highlights:

Discover a new way to enjoy the works of Vincent van Gogh
Immerse yourself in the artist's masterpieces with a 360-degree digital show
One-of-a-kind VR experience: travel through 8 works and their source of inspiration in "A Day in the Life of the Artist in Arles France"
Digital displays, sound effects, projection mapping and much more!

This seemed perfect for our delayed family outing, so I immediately began searching for tickets for a Saturday. The exhibition would open in May, but Saturdays were sold out until June, so I reserved 11 tickets for June 26.

This is the text I sent to family members:

Time for an adventure. I have purchased tickets for Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience at the High Museum of Art on Saturday, June 26 at 11:30. Mark your calendars now. Type in the above for an exciting preview. You're welcome.

Here are some responses:

"Yay, thank you." "Yay can't wait." "Sounds wonderful. Thank you kindly." "Ohhhh fun." "I'm so excited! This is so fun. Thanks grandmother can't wait." "Hey Mom could you get one more ticket."

I assumed the exhibition would be at the High Museum, but as I read more carefully, I discovered the exhibition would be "Centrally located in one of Atlanta's burgeoning arts districts (venue to be announced soon)." That was even better, a mysterious family outing.

We anxiously waited a couple of months before Pullman Yards was announced as the venue. It is located in the Kirkwood neighborhood of Atlanta near Grant Park. Pullman Yards was developed in 1904 by Pratt Engineering Company, manufacturer of agricultural machinery, and later became a repair and maintenance facility for Pullman train cars. It is currently owned by Atomic Entertainment, a movie production company which has plans to create a mixed-use development and a movie sound stage among the multiple historic industrial buildings on the site. The distinctive Building 1 in the Pullman Yards (recently renamed the Pratt Pullman District) has been the backdrop for multiple films, including "Baby Driver" as well as movies from "The Hunger Games" and the "Fast & Furious franchises."

June 26 finally arrived. Tickets had been transferred to their proper owners with only one snafu. Fever agents resolved that, and we were ready to VanGogh.

Walking from the parking lot, as we approached the venue, we knew we were in the right location because in front of us we saw the top of a cathedral-like building with PULLMAN, VAN GOGH in letters scaled to the size of the building. Even though we had traveled in different cars to the event, everyone arrived on time. The process of checking in with digital tickets went smoothly. Apparently everyone's cell phone was working on that day and wifi reception was strong.

The Starry Night

As patrons entered the gallery hall, they were greeted with oversized reproductions of Van Gogh's most famous works including Irises, Almond Blossom, Starry Night, Sunflowers, Self Portrait, his bedroom at Arles, France, where he lived for a year before suffering a mental breakdown, and a lifesized three-dimensional painting of the vestibule at St. Paul Asylum in Saint-Remy-de Provence where he was from May 1989 to May 1890. One granddaughter commented that it was like a huge popup book. I was happy that the collection of popup books I had shared with my granddaughter over the years had made an impression.

Exiting the selfguided tour, patrons entered a space of approximately 20,000 square feet with 360 degrees of digital projections, image after image of Van Gogh's paintings, from floor to walls to ceiling: The Potato Eaters, Self Portrait, Sunflowers, Irises, The Bedroom, Starry Night, Almond Blossoms, and many more, all constantly moving, swirling, fading in and out from one to the other, projected onto the floor, walls, ceiling. We all chose difference places to sit on couches, chairs, floor. The projected paintings, narration and an original classical musical sound track by Dutch composer Thomas Sohet provided a 35 minute super sized sensory experience of sights and sounds and even touch if you were seated on one of couches in the center. The hidden speakers were so powerful I felt the sensation of bouncing up and down.

An optional virtual reality experience was available at the end. "This multi-sensory experience guides the viewer through a 10-minute journey on 'A Day in the Life of the Artist in Aries,' that provides insight into the inspiration behind some of Van Gogh's most beloved works, including Vincent's Bedroom in Aries, Starry Night, Wheatfield with Crows, and Starry Night Over the Rhone River, to name a few (www.globenewswirecom 5/24/2021).

Instead of the added VR experience we opted for the gift shop where we perused everything Van Gogh: cards, pictures, tee shirts, mugs, to name just a few. We had a family photograph taken with Starry Starry Night as the backdrop. It's a great family photo but my sister and a granddaughter are missing because my sister was at the cash register purchasing a birthday gift for her son, and the granddaughter had gone outside to take off her mask. In all of the excitement we didn't realize they weren't in the photo.

Family Photo

We continued our super-sized sensory adventure by going to OK Cafe to indulge our taste sensations. Sitting at the big round table in the back, we ate cornbread, meat loaf, turkey and dressing, sandwiches and salads, drank sweet tea and mimosas, while we laughed and talked about how much we loved going as a family to Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.