For this edition of Artful Links, we’ve found immersive art experiences, online and off, for you to enjoy. Click away!
One way to immerse yourself in art: take the plunge and visit an underwater museum in the Atlantic Ocean. (You can also skip the snorkel and watch the video.)
Or, you can get in on the fun without leaving home: Learn to draw or paint an immersive, 360° digital artwork like this one. You’ve certainly seen 360° photos in your Facebook feed, but creating from scratch is a little more mind-bending. Get started with a tutorial here or here, and download Facebook’s template equirectangular grids for artists.
Immersive artworks are older than the digital age, though. An 1886 painting, The Battle of Atlanta, is among the hugest in the world, and an example of a painting format called the cyclorama: basically, a 360° painting you stand inside of. It’s now the subject of a conservation project costing tens of millions.
Not the subject of a conservation project: a sculpture that MoMA seems to have thrown away. Yikes.
For a totally different view of that museum, you can turn to artist Nina Katchadourian, who created the audio tour “Dust Gathering” for MoMA. It looks at the museum’s “dustiest highlights” and what they reveal about the visitors and artwork. It’s intended to be experienced in the museum, but you can also listen to it online — it takes about 30 minutes.
Can’t find a friend to play Pictionary with? Play with artificial intelligence in Quick Draw, and teach it a thing or two along the way. Here’s how we did:
Back to the subject of immersion: When you announce you’ve found seven Earth-like planets, the facts themselves just don’t capture the imagination the same way images do. So how do you turn scraps of data into believable worlds? With help from artists, of course.
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in some art here in DC, we have some recommendations for exhibits you can catch. “Infinity Mirrors,” Yayoi Kusama’s retrospective at the Hirshhorn, definitely fits the immersion bill with the artist’s famous mirrored rooms. But, with demand being what it is, you’ll only get to spend 30 seconds in each room. (If you haven’t heard yet, this is the hottest ticket in town.) Free; timed passes required. On view through May 14, 2017.
Fans of printmaking and Paris should make their way to the Phillips Collection for “Toulouse-Lautrec Illustrates the Belle Époque,” an exhibit of lithographs from throughout Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s career. The Phillips is also holding a poster contest with a deadline of March 13. $12 for adults. On view through April 31, 2017.
For something a little more local than Japan and France, there’s the annual juried regional show, “Emulsion,” put on by East City Art. It features artists from within 50 miles of Capitol Hill, including more than a few Art Leaguers. Free. On view March 3–16, 2017.
Finally, enjoy this cartoon from The New Yorker that you may or may not be able to relate to.
Sign up for our weekly blog newsletter, subscribe to our RSS feed, or like us on Facebook for the latest Art League news. Visit our homepage for more information about our classes, exhibits, and events in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia.
You can support The Art League every time you shop through AmazonSmile!
Simply set The Art League as your chosen charity, and every time you shop at smile.amazon.com, a portion of your purchase will be donated to support our mission to share the experience of visual arts with the community.
