Immersive experiences - continuing growth
The Theatre of Digital Art in Dubai recently upgraded its projectors to provide art lovers with a deeper immersive experience at their 1800 m2 facility (as reported in ProAVL MEA). The projectors are used to cover the walls and ceilings of the facility with enormous renditions of the works of Klimt and the Impressionists. This investment is just one example of a number of businesses seeking to leverage the ever increasing popularity of digital art and "immersive experiences".
Immersive experiences have a relatively long history. Among the first of them was the 2008 Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition, in France. But it was not until the 2010s that the format really took off. Since then, there have been Van Gogh experiences delivered across the globe, by a number of different companies (so many in fact that they prompted the Artnet headline Sick of Immersive Van Gogh Already? earlier in the year). They have been followed by worldwide immersive experiences for other household names, including Monet and Dali.
It is not only artists' estates that have benefited from a new mode of engaging with audiences and, of course, a new way of generating revenue. Living artists are just as involved in the creation and delivery of these experiences. Superblue for example, an immersive experience provider based out of Miami (and, from October, London), provides exhibition space and tech for a sizeable roster of living artists such as Leo Villareal and Carsten Nicolai.
The trend shows no signs of slowing down. We expect to see continuing growth in global licensing deals with exhibition spaces and artists/estates/galleries/collectors. Watch this space.
There has been an explosion in the use of digital art in recent years as the technology required to power such exhibits has finally caught up with the high expectations and requirements set by designers and artists.
