Jax Stumpes: Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience (10/28/2021)

Thursday, October 28, 2021

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience (10/28/2021)

Thursday, October 28, 2021

We managed to squeeze in a double-date with Ted & Jean R, to see Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA. We later found out there are five versions of a Van Gogh digital art show, being shown in large cities across the US!

Ted & Jean drove us to their secret free parking lot,
where we then caught the SEPTA trolley: Route 101

The light rail "trolley" took us to the 69th Street
Transportation Center in Upper Darby (the
pedestrian bridge was built in 1982)

Across from the 69th Street station on S 69th Street is
the amazing John H McClatchy Building (1927-1928, by
William Steele & Sons, in Byzantine Revival style);
located in the Art Deco enclave of Upper Darby

The Market Street and 69th Street exteriors are covered with
glazed terra cotta tiles in Mayan, Heraldic, and Egyptian motifs

The copper and stained glass entryway of
the building named for the real estate
developer of the area at the end of the
elevated railway line out of Philadelphia (KSS)

Ted made us go inside the H&M store
to check out the stained glass

Copper and stained glass pilasters
also decorate two sides of the exterior

The Tower Theater (1927-1928, built for John H McClatchy,
in subdued Art Deco style) had its tower removed in 2019;
the tower was a steel spire topped by a globe and had the
letters of the theater name installed vertically

Now for the Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience: Attendees had to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test result (tests offered just outside the theater). DisneyWorld-like queues moved small groups from one section to another.

A very large bust of Vincent van Gogh was the
backdrop of morphing projections of his paintings

Much information was provided on the life and times of the
artist, and included copies of his five top-selling paintings

On the far left is Nature Morte, Vase Aux Marguerites Et Coquelicots/Still Life, Vase with Daisies and Poppies ($61.8 million), then L'Allée des Alyscamps ($66.3 million). In the center is Portrait de l'Artiste sans Barbe/Portrait of the Artist Without Beard ($71.5 million), then Laboureur Dans Un Champ/Laborer in a Field ($81.3million). On the far right is Portrait du Docteur Gachet/Portrait of Doctor Gachet that sold for $82.5 million.

A video of a composite rendering of van Gogh paintings of flowers in vases:

Tree Roots (July 1890) is the last known work by van Gogh

Life-size representation of The Bedroom in Arles

Finally, the immersion! Here is a sample:
Amandier en fleurs/Almond Blossoms (1890)

A video of the transition from Almond Blossoms to Haystacks:

La moisson/The Harvest (1888)

Sunflowers everywhere!

Some of the many versions of van Gogh sunflowers (KSS)

La Nuit étoilée/Starry Night (1889) (KSS)

Nuit étoilée sur le Rhône/Starry Night Over the Rhône (1888);
the "flowing water" on the floor could be disorienting (KSS)

A video of the boats on the Rhône River:

It's not often that I can sit for an hour and be mesmerized, here by paintings in motion with haunting music and occasional narrative by "Vincent van Gogh" himself.