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A Brave New Way to Appreciate Art
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The ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands is hosting the world touring premiere of Van Gogh Alive – the Exhibition. Visitors explore the work of the Dutch Post-Impressionist painter through projected images synchronized with classical music.
(Left) The ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands was designed as a lotus with 10 petals or “fingers” reaching out to the sky. It hosts blockbuster international exhibits as well as permanent exhibits on three floors of gallery space across 6,000 sq m.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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It is an arresting sight on the shore of Marina Bay and the aerial view shows how the “fingers” are arranged. The tips of each finger provide light for the interior.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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The water feature called the Oculus harvests rainwater by channelling it into a 35m cylindrical waterfall that flows through the centre of the building into a reflecting pool at the lowest level. The rainwater is recycled for use in the museum’s toilets.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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One of the permanent exhibits at the museum is “Inspiration” which occupies over 200 sq m. Visitors are greeted by a constellation of objects which represent the union of art and science: Leonardo da Vinci’s Flying Machine, an air-borne lantern and a high tech robotic fish for example.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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According to Bruce Peterson, the owner of Grande Exhibitions, the ArtScience Museum is the perfect place to host the Van Gogh Alive-The Exhibition which will run from April 16 till November 6, 2011 as both the museum and the exhibition celebrate the fusion of art and science.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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In this exhibition, visitors get to experience the Dutch post-impressionist painter’s art work come alive via the latest in sound and projection technology. 41 high-definition projectors are used to project images. 41 computers orchestrate the experience, using very complex software to synchronise the movement of images and sound on 2 sq km of fabric screen surfaces.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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Art and Science Fuse in Singapore
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Visitors are immersed in the images of Van Gogh’s paintings. Selected from 100 paintings, 3,000 separate images of Van Gogh’s masterpieces are projected onto the gallery space. “The idea is that the museum goer walks amongst the images and just feels,” said the artistic director of VisionsCom Annabelle Mauger. “It is a democratic way of enjoying art. Anyone can understand art presented in this way.”
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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Masterpieces projected include “The Starry Night”, “Self-Portrait”, “Still Life: Vase with 12 Sunflowers”, and Vincent’s “Chair with His Pipe”. The show lasts 30 minutes but it is recommended that visitors walk through it twice. Mauger said she was encouraged to stay simple with technology because the paintings of Van Gogh are so rich. The images are static, not animated.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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There is a transition between Provence and Auvers-sur-Oise. The colours are very different, more blue in Provence, more yellow, orange and red in the latter. The brush strokes are also different. Said Mauger, “Sometimes we focus on a detail in a painting. Without saying any words it is a way of taking your eye in a certain direction, to make you notice things that you may not have noticed before.”
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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Art and Science Fuse in Singapore
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The music swells and comes to a crescendo at times building suspense. Said Mauger, “We chose the music according to the feeling we got in front of the paintings. Examples of music used: Sous le dôme épais (The Flower Duet) from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé and Gymnopédie No.1 and No.3 by Erik Satie.
Photos courtesy of Marina Bay Sands
Text by Vivienne Khoo
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Art and Science Fuse in Singapore
Beyond the Physical to the Fundamentals
