May 285 min read

LIFE IS A DREAM OR BEYOND VAN GOGH - Impressions about Art

Updated: Sep 14

July 18th, 2021

author: Katarzyna Nowocin-Kowalczyk (Catherine)

Life Is A Dream or Beyond Van Gogh - impressions about art with the cultural expert's eye

text from the book: TIME OF CHANGES

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“It must be good to die in the knowledge that one has done some truthful work...and to know that, as a result, one will live on in the memory of at least a few and leave a good example for those who come after.” - Vincent van Gogh

How to make a person who is rather indifferent to art interested in art? Or how to make your child want to get acquainted with the works of a famous artist? And how to make it possible not only to talk about art, but also to feel it?

Going to a museum and looking at hundreds of framed pictures? Yes. Only after a few minutes you are confused and everything merges into one frame. You don't remember the names, let alone the titles of the paintings. Because if someone has not been taught to visit such places since childhood or art is not in their sphere of interest, they will say–-boredom. Especially young people brought up in the world of phenomenal, computer animations. Besides, how many people looking at a painting by a well-known artist are able to appreciate its value and understand the artist's message? We say van Gogh—“Sunflowers.” Sometimes someone will add—“Starry Night”' or “Café Terrace at Night.” But if you ask for a description of this particular painting to you, it can be more difficult.

And how many people even know that van Gogh also had a name? No, it's not a “van.” Mr. van Gogh's name was Vincent and he was a 19th-century Dutch postmodern painter whose work had a huge impact on 20th-century art, despite the fact that the artist was not very appreciated during his lifetime.

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh

An idealist and a dreamer who saw the world differently. Emotions, senses, colors, symbols. And this is how he painted this world. Because life is a dream or being on the other side of the mirror, where everything has been turned upside down. A lie was clothed in the garments of the Truth, and the Truth was considered a lie. The truth has been left naked and most do not want to see it. People have accepted sleep as reality and called it normality. Matter obscured the image of vision.

The one who goes beyond the world of matter, the one who sees more, often asks the question: What is dream, what is reality? And then the world of matter rejects such a person. Because the world of matter is afraid of everything that is different. Either you are a clone of another sheep, i.e. you say and do what the rest do, or you are considered an outsider. To be abnormal. And there is probably something to it. Because if you don't conform to what someone considered to be the so-called “normality,” then you are “abnormal.” However, the question arises: Is what was considered normality really this normality?

“Normality is a paved road: It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.”

– Vincent van Gogh

Vincent van Gogh was also considered an outsider and a rebel, and the world in which he lived did not understand what he was talking about, did not understand his messages and did not understand his paintings. It was the same with many other people who went beyond the mental limitations of their time. Some were crucified, others burned at the stake, others were pelted with stones or sentenced to social isolation. In a word–-they were rejected. Paradoxically, however, the thought of all those people stigmatized during their lives, whom their contemporaries did not want to understand, prevailed. Their thought survived and was the driving force behind the changes of this world.

It is worth recalling that during his not very long life (he died at the age of 37), Vincent van Gogh created over 2000 works, which are currently sold at auctions for millions of dollars.

But let's return to the question: What can be done to interest a person who is rather indifferent to this art? The answer is obvious. Do exactly the same thing that a good teacher does–-make the lesson attractive. Tell a story. Touch the strings of emotions. Engage the senses. Take into the world of the fairy tale we are telling. To make the viewer become part of the story.

And that's exactly what French-Canadian Matthew Saint Arnaud, creative director of 'Normal Studio' based in Montreal, did. Together with his team, he created an amazing interactive exhibition of over 300 iconic works by Vincent van Gogh, taking the viewer into the three-dimensional world of art of this great artist. Using cutting-edge multimedia projection technology and over 4 trillion pixels of content to transmit images, the producers of this unusual exhibition completely change the surrounding space, immersing visitors in the painter's swirling world. Using the artist's dreams, words and images that create a narrative, the creators of the show take guests on a journey to another dimension.

“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” – Vincent van Gogh

And so, just like in life, you become a spectator and a participant at the same time. You are looking at the picture being painted in front of your eyes, being at the same time a part of this picture. You are in the middle of the picture and in the audience. Everything flows. Everything changes. Swirls. Dances. Stuns. Is addictive. The play of light, color, music, shape. You are part of the dream of a brilliant artist. And you won't forget it anymore.

You are the artist who paints the picture of your life. You are the one who creates this dream called life.

"Our life is an eternal breach between dreams and reality." – Vincent van Gogh

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