Reflection 2 Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit

I went to Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit New York. It is on Pier 36 near the Manhattan Bridge, favors lavish, synesthetic visuals. The features irises, sunflowers, and almond blossoms cloned and flipped at mural scale, their short brush strokes whirling. The exhibit highlights Van Gogh’s paintings in a unique way, bringing the famous works to life from floor to ceiling with different elements of color, sound, and light using projectors, animations, and more.

As for the technology: although these immersive have been touted as breakthroughs in exhibition design, room-filling cinema projections go back many decades. It is the first time I see immersive technology work with artistic paintings. It gives us a chance to see the detail of the art techniques. Most importantly, we can feel the emotions and the connection with the artist himself.

As a psychology student, talking about creativity: Everyone thinks it has to arise from something positive. But it could also come from something extremely negative. Many people believe that artists overcome suffering from their creative acts, but suffering may also overwhelm the artist. Had lithium carbonate therapy been available, van Gogh might have defeated his manic depression, avoided his tragic fate, and grown further as an artist.

“If I could have worked without this accursed disease, what things I might have done,” he wrote in one of his last letters.

It makes me rethink creativity. If Van Gogh does not have mood disorders, would he paint in such a novel and unique way? Where does creativity come from? Psychologically, it comes from the brain’s right hemisphere. Creativity could originate from the problem itself. The problem triggers people to think. For Van Gogh, the illness gives him a different perspective of perceiving the problem. The art piece is proof that creativity existed even life is hard.

Combine with my design thinking class, we talked a lot about perceiving a problem. We always think the problem is bad in all ways. A lot of valuable ideas depend on the problem. Pay attention to the core of the problem and think “outside of the box”, some common problems can generate uncommon solutions.