A Staycation in Vancouver with Van Gogh
The idea of Spring Break often conjures picturesque visions of rest and relaxation—dreams of everything from bonfires, beach parties and tropical family vacations, to two weeks of eating breakfast for dinner and sleeping until noon (or well after that). And so it goes in North America, which has apparently produced enough spring-break-themed films to have multiple spring-break-themed listicles and Youtube compilations designed to help you build your next queue of quarantine flicks.
Naturally, this year’s Spring Break was about as mobile as last year’s Spring Break, which was to say that it really wasn’t. As we all know, the ongoing pandemic has rendered unnecessary travel of any sorts unsafe and ill-advised. Last March, restrictions had just been put into place for the first time. This March, it wasn’t even that trips abroad or café hopping were out of the question, but rather that there wasn’t a question at all: any attempts at celebrating two weeks of no school were best spent small, and at home.
In lieu of leaving beautiful British Columbia, my family took a mini-trip downtown for the Imagine Van Gogh immersive exhibition.
Pan Pacific Hotel
In true ‘stay-cation’ form, we checked in for a pleasant night at the Pan-Pacific hotel, strolled down downtown’s concrete pavements under a light (expected, for once) drizzle of Vancouver rain, and ate a surprisingly satisfying dinner at Tap and Barrel. The meal, which included the likes of thin, white-sauce pizza, a teeth-crunching crispy chicken burger, and peanut butter and jelly burger (tons better than it sounds, according to my sister) was memorable enough to add the restaurant to a never-ending list of solid joints for quick yet tasty bites. Stuffed and in good spirits, we then walked back to the hotel to settle in for an evening of watching superhero reruns flicker across the widescreen.
The main event awaited us next morning, after a brief muffin slash donut breakfast courtesy of Tims, everyone’s favourite donut chain. Standing in line at the convention centre, we chatted amongst ourselves in anticipation of what was advertised on the website as a “unique cultural project”, and had in fact sold out months before it even landed in Vancouver.
By now, the anticipation had simmered to a boil; the kind of curious hum you get before the start of a show. And what a show it was. The exhibit started with a darkened room and a few sets of elegant placards that told parts of Van Gogh’s story in English and French. Illuminated by single spotlights, they also provided context for the project itself, and how the creator, Annabelle Mauger and developer Julien Baron conceived of the unique visual and auditory experience. As we travelled through the 1800s, dramatic, classical music could be heard from the upcoming room where the actual projection paintings were being displayed.
And like lightning spearing through the black curtain of night, the exhibit’s effect struck swift and hard. I had only ever seen Van Gogh’s paintings through pixels or pages. Like countless others, I was amazed when I discovered Starry Night as a kid, and wondered what it would be like to witness it in New York’s infamous MOMA, where it is currently held. Imagine Van Gogh made it so that I didn’t have to imagine.
In a room lit by the projections of his paintings, over 200 of Van Gogh’s works bloomed on screens that loomed over and surrounded us. His art encapsulated the space in such a way that even the floor wasn’t exempt from checkerboard displays or droves of greenery spotted by soft pink flowers.
Through this medium, the paintings were not small nor static. Instead, they faded and emerged and scrolled up and down the walls. The movements synced in time with a soundtrack that crackled with crescendos or sang a whimsical tune, each musical motif well-suited to each painting’s mood. The addition of the physical and audible movement cleverly signalled the entrances of new themes and eras in his complicated life and now-celebrated work.
For one hour, we were engulfed in panels of vibrant colours and scenes of country sides and evening strolls along the Seine. We were faced with evocative portraits that splayed varying emotions of men, women, and the artist himself. We walked around the room and took some pictures, but mostly we simply stood and watched each brushstroke shift, knowing that no high-def camera could truly capture the experience of being in a room that portrayed Van Gogh’s work with a new flair. The exhibit, a success in my eyes, thoughtfully utilized modern twists and technology while also conveying an age-old appreciation for Van Gogh and his art.
Travelling to his museum in Amsterdam is an adventure that will have to be postponed for the time being. But through the Imagine Van Gogh exhibit, we were able to see the stars through the eyes of a man who used paint to capture the beauty and emotion of the world around us, in a brilliant, technicolour light.
I'm not sure what Van Gogh would have thought if he were alive to see his work displayed in this way, but I can imagine that he would have loved it.
