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 we have the follow-up, also presented by Lighthouse ArtSpace Chicago: “Mozart Immersive: The Soul of a Genius,” billed as a “celebration of classical music” and an exploration of the “mind,” “soul” and genius of the Salzburg-born composer.
