Stinky is waiting for Periwinkle by the teleportation tunnel when he sees it begin to vibrate, and he hears the familiar whoosh. Periwinkle tumbles out right into his waiting paws. They share a huge paw hug and some whisker kisses. Before she can utter even a tiny meow, Stinky takes her paw and leads her back into the tunnel. Moments later they arrive at their destination.
Periwinkle looks confused. They are in a parking lot behind some stores and in front of what looks like an old warehouse. “Ta-da,” announces Stinky.
“Ta-da, what?” Periwinkle exclaims in confusion.
“Just wait until we get inside, Periwinkle. You are going to love this,” replies Stinky.
“How do you know? Have you been here before adventuring without me?”
“No, silly, I would never do that. Mom and Dad have been here and highly recommended it for us.”
“Well, okay, I do trust your Mom and Dad. Just as long as we are not the clean-up crew for what appears to be an abandoned building.”
“Nope!” Without any further discussion Stinky leads Periwinkle inside. But it is not until they pass through a retail space that she sees the sign.
The Van Gogh Immersive Experience
(Note: Some photos are shown out of sequence to make the post more cohesive for our readers.)
“Oh, Stinky, this is where your parents visited a couple of week’s ago!”
“Correct-a-mundo,” the Van Gogh Immersive Experience. I don’t know much about art, but Mom is certain we will enjoy this, as it is colorful and relaxing. Let’s check out this time line of Van Gogh’s life.”
“Wow, Stinky, this is really small!”
“I know. I hope our readers can enlarge in on their computers, as we only will be touching on some high points.”
Van Gogh’s Life
Periwinkle and Stinky want to give everyone a bit of information about Vincent van Gogh prior to sharing their experience with you.
The Dutch, post-impressionist artist was born in the Netherlands in 1853 and lived to be 37 years old. He died in 1890 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He suffered from bi-polar disorder and epilepsy. Van Gogh experienced vivid hallucinations and delusions. These are common symptoms of schizophrenia. He spent one year in a mental institution where he created paintings at a rate of one every 36 hours. Most people know him as the artist who cut off his own ear.
During his career, which lasted approximately ten years, Van Gogh created 2,000 works of art, the majority of which were sketches (1,100). The other 900 were paintings.
The tabbies begin to explore the “experience” and find there is a lot of reading involved, which is not what they came for, so they decide to skip most of it, and just check out the art. Stinky tells Periwinkle that most of the images they will see are projections like with the sunflowers. No original pieces are part of the experience.
Sunflowers
Most people do not realize that Van Gogh painted a series of seven sunflowers in a vase between 1888 and 1889. He painted many other sunflowers, but these are the ones for which he is best known.
“Stinky, this is like we are actually part of a Van Gogh sunflower painting,” remarks Periwinkle.
“I know, it is really cool, especially how a fan makes the sunflowers look as if they are swaying in a breeze. Flowers were one of Van Gogh’s favorite objects to paint.”
Other Flowers
“Stinky, this is so cool. I love how the image keeps changing, and how the vase is real and projects into the room. Thank you so much for not climbing on it.”
(Apology to our readers: As this was a changing projection, it was impossible to get still photographs without the very distracting vertical bands of color.)
Bedroom in Arles
Some of Vincent van Gogh’s most famous paintings are those of the Bedroom in Arles, which was Van Gogh’s room in his home, known as “the yellow house.” He painted three versions with the main difference being in the chairs, bed, floor and window.
“Stinky, it is so cool that we can actually enter one of Van Gogh’s paintings by having this re-creation as part of the exhibit.”
“I know, and I think it is even okay for you and I to sit on the bed and chair without getting in trouble.”
Japanese Influence
Vincent van Gogh collected Japanese prints, which offered him a new way of viewing the world. In the latter half of the 19th century, admiration for all things Japanese was growing, but few artists in the Netherlands studied Japanese art. Van Gogh paid little attention at first. In Paris, however, it was extremely popular. That is where Van Gogh discovered the impact of Japanese art on the artists of Europe and decided to modernize his own art.
Self-Portraits
In the last four years of his life, Van Gogh painted from 35 to 40 self-portraits. These are just a few of those paintings.
This is just a small sample of what is included in the exhibition. The best and most impressive part is what comes at the end.
The Immersive Experience
Periwinkle and Stinky enter the final section of the Van Gogh experience, and Periwinkle’s mouth falls open. They are surrounded on all four walls and the floor with a constant stream of Van Gogh’s art, which totally immerses them in his paintings.
The display lasts about an hour and is constantly changing. (The third photo under the Japanese Influence heading and the second photo under the Self-Portraits heading are also part of this display.)
“Stinky, this has been incredible. I would start all over again at the beginning if my paws weren’t tired.”
“I know, Periwinkle. I have never experienced anything like this. I feel badly that we have only been able to share a small portion of what we have seen. I hope some of our friends can get tickets and enjoy this as well. I am having my mom put information at the end of our post on where are readers can get more information about other locales for the experience as well as tickets,” replies Stinky.
“Stinky, I am starving. Can we head back to your house for a snack?”
“You bet, let’s go,” Stinky replies, and the tabbies head to their teleportation tunnel.
Home for a Snack
“I love your porch, Stinky. It is the purrfect spot to relax and have a snack, especially on such a beautiful day.”
“I agree, especially when we can be here together,” adds Stinky.
When the tabbies finish their snack, Periwinkle takes some time to visit with Stinky’s fursibs before heading to the teleportation tunnel for the trip home. Once there, she and Stinky share lots of paw hugs and whisker kisses and whisper, “I love you,” to each other. Then with a whoosh and a wave, Periwinkle is gone.
Stinky heads to the catio for a nap and dreams of Periwinkle.
The End
The Van Gogh Immersive Experience, which began in 2017, is currently being shown in America in the following cities: Wichita, Tampa, Richmond, Knoxville and Winston-Salem. It also is touring in several European cities. Our readers can find those at http://www.vangoghexpo.com/. You also can find video footage there, which will give you a look at what Periwinkle & Stinky actually experienced.
Periwinkle will be joining the Happy Tuesday blog hop at Comedy Plus. To go there, click on the badge below.
Chaplin: “Our Mama and Dada went to the Beyond Van Gogh exhibit a year or two ago with some friends of theirs! Dada said it was very interesting, except he found the big room a little bit overwhelming at first and had to step outside for a few minutes before he went back in and then he was okay.”
Charlee: “Apparently you can be vulnerable to sensory overload sometimes after a ruptured brain aneurysm. He didn’t think that applied to him, but turns out he was wrong.”
KNOXVILLE! I will go and click on the URL in just a moment. Stinky, I want to say your Mom and you really really chose a difficult as well as extremely interesting adventure for Periwinkle and the rest of us when you shared it. That required a lot of work and it is one of the most unusual things my mom has heard of. Both of you always share the best adventures. This one is the list unusual. XX
Wow, just a fabulous adventure, tabbies! We really enjoyed being along. Love Van Gogh’s work and would love to see that exhibit!
That was a fun date. I love seeing you two in Van Gogh’s bedroom. XO
This is truly amazing. It’s a fact that most schizophrenics have extremely high IQ’s. How wonderful that he got to express himself with paint, brush and canvas. If we get to Tampa/St. Pete in January as we are hoping, we’ll have to check to see if the exhibit it still there. Thank you so much for sharing!
Whoa! That’s really cool, Periwinkle and Stinky! What a fun and out-of-the-ordinary adventure. 🙂
How very cool sweeties! I heard how good that is so thanks for taking us along!
P and S…ph em cod, what a grate add venturez two day, spesh a lee de last part and de bloo room….ya noe, if him waz livin two day, he could join de SUN day selfeez blog hop…de paintin with de sun flowerz🌻🌻🌻iz total lee kewl and itz a shame him onlee lived a few yeerz😿manee thanx for sharin yur add venturez two day, kewl stuff never comez ta trout towne‼️🐟😸🦋💙
That’s a most cool adventure! We got to see it in NOLA, worth every penny.
What a wonderful adventure. I would love to see this in person. Beautiful.
Thank you for joining the Happy Tuesday Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Happy Tuesday. Scritches to all the kitties, a smooch to Cooper Murphy and Sawyer and a big hug to the moms. ♥
Stinky, this was the COOLEST Adventure! I enjoyed being part of the artwork with you. You are the BEST Adventure planner.
Love,
Periwinkle
What an incredible exhibition. Thanks for showing us so much of it as my Mom and Dad would not be able to see it in person. Mom has always been a fan of sunflowers – saw fields of them when they traveled through some areas in Europe. Wonderful adventure this week!!!!
Hugs, Teddy
Wow, I would love to see that exhibition, but each locale is far away from us….and though I have many cousins in the Netherlands, I don’t think I will be going there anytime soon.
I loved seeing the paintings you showed us, P & S! I once saw a field of sunflowers, kind of like the ones at the exhibition.
This was a wonderful adventure!