Chicago Tribune

Michael Phillips: Immersive video exhibits: Pro or con? What clues does ‘Mozart Immersive’ give about the future of entertainment?

CHICAGO — We live in “the experience culture.” That’s what David Barbour calls it. He’s editor-in-chief of Lighting & Sound America, the monthly trade publication of the entertainment technology industry. Barbour sees no more conspicuous example of that culture, and our ever-theme-parkier menu of experiences for a price, than the multi-projection exhibits like “Immersive Van Gogh,” one of many ...
Moving digital images at Lighthouse ArtSpace as the "Immersive Van Gogh" exhibit is previewed in Chicago on Feb. 9, 2021.

CHICAGO — We live in “the experience culture.”

That’s what David Barbour calls it. He’s editor-in-chief of Lighting & Sound America, the monthly trade publication of the entertainment technology industry. Barbour sees no more conspicuous example of that culture, and our ever-theme-parkier menu of experiences for a price, than the multi-projection exhibits like “Immersive Van Gogh,” one of many Van Gogh attractions now playing around the world. Audiences pay their money for a bone-dry swim in an ocean of digital projections and swirly images from famous paintings accustomed to being still.

“Immersive Van Gogh” recently concluded a two-year run engagement at Chicago’s shrewdly renovated and reconfigured Germania Club Building, built in 1889 and located in Old Town. More than 650,000 people paid to see that exhibit. Now

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