Is this the future for art galleries? Visit to #ArtScience museum #Singapore

Having seen the impressive structure during the day and the light show put on there in the evenings, we were looking forward to visiting the museum. Also around town we had seen posters for an Urban Art Exhibition there. 

As we entered the building there were tables with small projects on them for children. This was a good idea as it meant they were already involved in the themes on show in the gallery. As we looked at the different exhibitions offered, we realised you had to pay separately for each of  them. As this could become quite costly, we had to pick the one that interested us the most. Although we came for the Urban Art exhibition, the Digital Immersive Experiences; Future World -Where Art Meets Science. intrigued us more, so we decided on that.

The first room we entered was dark and as we sat on the floor the walls and floor were used for a video showing flight. This was quite disorientating but we sat and enjoyed the experience. 

As we left this room, we were not sure what to expect but as we entered the next hall, it was a hive of activity. Adults and children sat colouring in pictures of fish and sea creatures. I did a fish and Sue did a sea turtle and a lizard. These were then scanned into a computer terminal and my fish appeared on the wall amongst others and Sue's turtle swam along the floor.

​As we moved on, the next area featured a cityscape. Here you could deign buildings or spaceships. I did a spaceship and a rocket. Once on the screen you could interact with them.

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Moving on there was a slide that you could come down and as you passed over shapes they changed colour and pattern. In another area, you could move buildings etc. around and interact with the layout of the town.

We spent a great deal of time in this large room, as there was so much of interest.  All around families were joining in with the activities and enjoying their time in the gallery. There were large coloured balls to move and giant squares that changed colour when moved around. There was also a fantasy wall where, when you touched the symbols moving around, they changed into animals or mystical beasts. In another room, the walls were filled with crashing waves that were reflected on the walls.

A thoroughly enjoyable time spent in this fun gallery. Maybe, we didn't see any paintings but as a means to involve families and get people into these places, it was excellent. I imagined my landscapes done here, where people could walk through the painting, interacting with nature possibly even smelling the flowers etc. Or in one of my cityscapes meeting the people I have painted. How this would add to the experience of seeing the painting and then experiencing it.

​Admittedly, in this instance, there weren't any paintings on show but if this type of experience encourages people into galleries then an appreciation of art will hopefully follow on.

Galleries are already trying this type of experience. 

In London the Monet and Architecture exhibition gives 3D representations of his  work: ​https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/the-credit-suisse-exhibition-monet-architecture?gclid=CjwKCAjwlcXXBRBhEiwApfHGTYfGtQSED3qtqH2ObALU37IDkN1AYq9OKuK3KZCGPwRvFgyx3vIg0xoC_t0QAvD_BwE​

In Paris:
​ A digital gallery in Paris is making art an immersive experience for visitors who can walk into and over paintings projected around a warehouse.
The Atelier des Lumieres, or Studio of Lights, opened this month with an inaugural exhibit featuring Austrian painter Gustav Klimt's work not hanging on walls, but lighting up floors, ceilings and walls in a colorful, 35-minute moving sequence.
Gallery director Michael Couzigou says: "We use photos scanned in high definition to make this digital exhibition a universe of music and sound."
The show, set to classical music, attracted 60,000 visitors in its first 10 days.
Organizers say the gallery is the biggest of its kind in the world. It has 140 fixed video projectors installed across the 3,300-square-meter (35,521-square-foot) space.

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