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Arts & Communication Reflecting on art through virtual exhibitions

began with Domenico Feti’s work Jacob’s Dream from music aimed at altering one’s sense of balance and
the 16 century, which shows a staircase connecting the creating a disorienting yet captivating effect. According
th
earthly with the heavenly, which Dali also references in to the exhibition catalog, curator Karin Oen argued that
his work The Broken Bridge and the Dream. Like Jacob, teamLab’s work aims to transform viewers from passive
visitors find a dream tailored to them and, through observers to active participants in fragmented narratives,
artificial intelligence (AI), they can “visualize” what they to literally “move beyond observation” and make them
have in mind and transfer it to their mobile device. The “active protagonists in decentralized narratives.” 47
technological achievement of this exhibition was that
each spectator was created with the AI DALL-E (Goodby 5.13. Monet and Friends
Silverstein & Partners, Minds Over Matter, and OpenAI). This immersive exhibition was displayed at the
This experience has won multiple awards, including the Kunstmuseum in Basel, Switzerland (2021). It focused on
Cannes Cyber Lion Gold and the Facebook Silver Award. the work of the celebrated French Impressionist Claude
To access this interactive experience, visitors scan a QR Monet and used digital projections to create an immersive
code found in the museum, enter keywords describing experience in his landscape paintings. Visitors could
their dream, and then encounter a narrative of images that walk through interactive installations and experience the
describe and recount their dream thoughts. Thus, they sensation of being inside the artist’s paintings. In addition
create their own piece that is unique from those of other to this artist’s work, the exhibition featured projections of
visitors. All of these images are available to download on over 3,000 pieces by other Impressionist masters, including
a website, which may in turn provoke some debate about Camille Pissarro, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paul Cézanne,
authorship, the originality of the images, and even user and Edgar Degas. These projections were accompanied by
privacy. Dalí would probably have actively participated in a dazzling spectacle of light and music.
such an exciting debate. 46 While Van Gogh, Starry Night might be a popular

5.12. teamLab: Continuity immersive exhibition, it was not the first of its kind. The
concept of immersive art experiences has been around
This Japanese art collective took over a vast space at the Asian since at least 2008. However, this recent exhibition sparked
Art Museum in San Francisco. The collective, composed a surge in popularity, and it seemed as though flattened
of 600 multimedia artists (“ultra-technologists”), software impasto projections were popping up on walls across
engineers, animators, and architects, is called teamLab. In North America. Currently, at least five different digital
this exhibition, their interactive landscape, called teamLab: exhibitions are showcasing Van Gogh’s work, stationed in
Continuity, promised “an ecosystem of lush imagery drawn cities around the world, namely Van Gogh Alive, Immersive
from nature and East Asian art.” Animated projections of Van Gogh, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, Beyond
flowers, fish, and birds moved across the walls and floor. Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience, and Imagine Van
As visitors navigated the space, the installation came Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition. 48
alive. Animated projections of flowers, fish, and birds
danced across the walls and floors, responding to visitors’ 6. Conclusions
movements. Butterflies fluttered, leaving trails of color that Can virtual art (which here encompasses virtual exhibitions
faded and wrinkled upon contact. Flowers bloomed and and immersive experiences) be considered a tool? Is it an
retracted, while pine needles shifted and danced in response end in itself? Is it the way we will understand art in the
to people’s presence. One woman was observed to playfully near future? Are we witnessing the end of “traditional”
dodge a school of fish that gathered and dispersed around exhibitions? We might settle for the answer of “all of the
her boots. Hidden sensors tracked visitors’ movements, above,” which is perhaps the most interesting one, as
transforming them from observers into participants in this great artists, philosophers, and art critics have attempted
ever-evolving artwork.
to answer this question, and perhaps reality is the best
Continuity is just one example of the many captivating indication of our emerging future in art. The last question is
technology-driven installations gaining popularity. the simplest to answer a priori: no. Traditional exhibitions
These projects, created by artist studios, collectives, have not “died”—not by a long shot. Just by observing the
and production companies, encompass a wide range, vast number of visitors to cities that host major museums,
from cutting-edge interactive experiences to animated those who believe that their days of contemplating a
retrospectives of Impressionist painters. Crows are Chased canvas or a sculpture are over can breathe easy. After the
and the Chasing Crows are Destined to be Chased as well, pandemic and the COVID-19 crisis, the mass return to
Transcending Space was projected in another room, with museums is a testament to the excellent health enjoyed
a combination of mapped animations and enveloping by these types of exhibitions. Moreover, museums have

Volume 3 Issue 1 (2025) 8 doi: 10.36922/ac.3688