The Van Gogh Immersive Experience in St Mary's church, York, is one of a kind and is a must see for any art enthusiasts wanting to broaden their creative horizons. Exploring the beautiful yet tragic life of one of the world's most loved painters, you can travel through Van Gogh's world with sound, lights, interactive activities and a 360-degree VR headset. The experience is open in York and Leicester until the 31st of January 2023.
The Show
During the 35-minute projection show, themes change course constantly, predominantly swinging from hopeful to desperate, joyful to depressed, seen to isolated. The works themselves are full of vivid and rich colours and characterful faces. His landscapes create an altogether freeing atmosphere, allowing your lungs to open as you drink in the sunny French air. All of these elements together help us to explore just how Van Gogh felt when he was at his highest and indeed when he was at his lowest.
Reflecting on the show, my favourite element was the voice over, an actor reading some of Vincent's most inspiring quotes. This allowed me to fully connect with him not only as a viewer of his art but as an artist myself. One quote that has stuck with me since the show is:
'What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?'
This exemplifies to us his positive outlook on life. Van Gogh wasn't afraid to be bold or different to the people and artists of the time. He knew what people thought of him and his work, but he didn't mind. Van Gogh knew that creating was something that hurt his mental health, but he also knew that being without this creative outlet would leave him with a more fractured mental health than when using painting to soothe him.
This glimpse into the mind of my favourite painter has opened my eyes to how ahead of his time he truly was, how misunderstood and how underappreciated he was during his own lifetime. My biggest wish is that he would know how greatly he and his work is loved now and for him to know how innovative he was in the art world.
Van Gogh, through all his 2000 paintings, drawings and sketches, (not all on show in this exhibition) was constantly trying to show the people who viewed his work just how beautiful and grand the nature we live in is. He could see the magnificence of his surroundings and wanted others to see it too. Van Gogh did this through his use of colour, creating and breaking harmonies to portray the truest forms from his mind.
Themes Explored
The themes of harmony in creation connect with the gospel through the creation story right at the start of Genesis. Van Gogh fully appreciated the wonder around him, the beauty that our God created for us. His father was a Parson and so he and his six siblings (including his elder brother who passed away as a baby) erew brought up around the festivals and celebrations traditional of the time, fuelled greatly by the ever busyness of his mother. This sense of faith, collectiveness and family spirit stayed with him all of his life and was a very dominant factor in his work.
After reading 'Van Gogh- The Life' by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith, I discovered that even seeing a mother with her child made Van Gogh tear up while he was living away from his family. The idea of 'goodness' and 'brokenness' would be themes that not only filled his childhood but would outline what the rest of his life would become. His paintings represented 'goodness' in the world, the birds, the fields, the sun, but Vincent himself was the one who was broken. Even though he and Theo, his younger brother, were in contact regularly, he often found himself alone and delicate, sometimes not being able to leave his home due to his depressive episodes. We also know today that he lived with epilepsy and schizophrenia, conditions that couldn't be diagnosed during his lifetime.
Even though this immersive experience does touch on the troubles of Van Gogh's life, it does whole heartedly celebrate who he was and what he did for the world, opening our eyes to a way that we can celebrate God's creation whilst also connecting with each other through our creative gifts.