Hélène has not returned to Venice since the pandemic. She misses the city and she finally decided to go to… the Opéra Bastille! There, the “Venice Revealed” exhibition promised him “an interactive and sensory journey to the heart of the splendours of the Queen of the Adriatic”. Challenge met ? “I was a bit dubious and I remain so on certain aspects, but from the moment you know that it is in no way a question of contemplating original works, but of living an experience between the film, the installation and the carnival, it’s not bad at all! »
Produced by the Immersive Grand Palais, the Fondazione Musei Civici of Venice and the Iconem agency, the event was a great success. “We were inspired by the pictorial illusionism of Veronese, Tintoretto or Tiepolo, its spectacular effects of depth and perspectiveexplains Yves Ubelmann, president of Iconem, which specializes in the creation of immersive exhibitions. Based on rigorous scientific data, we immerse visitors in a moving space between reality and imagination. »
Awakening our mental landscapes
While some remain skeptical of “on the gadget side” of the proposal, many are “bluffed” when the boat on which they are supposed to sail magically crosses the facade of a sumptuous palace. “Technique awakens our mental landscapescontinues Yves Ubelmann. Provoking an emotion that arouses our curiosity, our interest and our desire to better understand the secrets of Venice…”
Whether we appreciate it or are annoyed by it, the soundtrack combining sounds of the Serenissima and references to Venetian music plays a determining role in the immersive envelopment offered by “Venice revealed”. “Our field of vision is limited, while our hearing operates at 360°recalls Olivier Warusfel, researcher at Ircam (Institute for research and acoustic/music coordination). It alerts us to what we do not see, informs us of the scope of our actions. It is the sound produced by rubbing or a blow which will indicate its intensity, the clicking of the heels on the ground which will define the speed of the walk… The brain associates the gesture with the sound produced. »
Sensory conjunction
The immersive events thus play on the conjunction of sensory stimuli to stir up our reactions. A process that has been inscribed for a long time in the history of the arts but whose effects are increased tenfold by technology. “Any score of the XXe century specifies from the outset the arrangement of the instruments on the stage, continues Olivier Warusfel. It is she who will determine the sound texture but also, for the listener-spectator, the legibility of the lines, the dramatic effects. » Vision then helps hearing, in return for so many services rendered!
The democratization of virtual reality (or VR for short) in the mid-2010s, thanks to the marketing of specific headsets, particularly in the video game sector, prompted scientists to look into the way in which we react to these solicitations. They give us the impression of being fully immersed and acting within a simulated world, another world.
“We are still in the infancy of analyzing what is going on inside us.specifies Christophe Rodo, neuroscientist, author of the podcast The Head in the Brain. A 2019 Italian-Spanish study showed that when visiting an exhibition with a VR headset, the emotional arousal was greater than that of a classic visit. »
Followers or Recalcitrants
The observation is however tempered by several questions: is this excitement attributable to the novelty of the VR experience or to VR itself? “Not to mention that we meet recalcitrant people, put off or even inconvenienced by this bombardment of information and stimulation”, notes Christophe Rodo. Multiplying the “hooks” to attract and seduce the user will enthuse one person but will tire, even exasperate, the other.
Just recently, British scientists demonstrated that the prefrontal cortex – “this area of the brain which is involved in particular in decision-making but also the feeling of being oneself”, reminds Christophe Rodo – reacts in a specific way when we play a role, such as an actor or… a participant in a virtual world. In addition, this brain region is also “very active in the face of great aesthetic emotion”, adds the neuroscientist. Would crossing the walls of the Venetian palaces then amount to crossing the mirror of our conscience?
————
Some current and upcoming events
“Venice, from Canaletto to Monet” can be discovered at the Bassins des Lumières in Bordeaux until January 3.
“Venice the Serenissima” and “Yves Klein, the blue infinity” at the Carrières des Lumières in Baux-de-Provence until January 15.
“Tintin, the immersive adventure” awaits visitors to the Atelier des Lumières in Paris until January 22. The Atelier des Lumières is still offering its Cézanne and Kandinsky exhibitions until January 20, 2023.
“Venice Revealed” is exhibited at the immersive Grande Palais at the Opéra Bastille in Paris until February 19.
“Harry Potter: The Exhibition”, advertised as “the largest immersive exhibition on the wizarding world”, will continue its world tour through Paris in the spring of 2023, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles.