Middle of the action

Immersive experiences are becoming a bit of a thing aren't they?  I'm not that bothered about virtual reality (the headsets give me a headache) but the less technology  heavy alternatives are something I am beginning to love. 

I have just visited the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the Tate, which includes a couple of her infinity mirror rooms. There is something a bit like awe when completely immersed in light and darkness, which felt a bit like being a single mote in the universe. After the years of lockdown, with screens being the main interaction with the world, it feels liberating to be engulfed in something. 

Earlier this year I went to the Van Gogh immersive experience, which didn't give the same sense of transcendence, but 'walking through' the paintings certainly gives a different perspective, and somehow a more complete one than just looking at them.  Not the same as looking at a picture at all. 

Obviously the immersive art experience has been around for a while but I am pretty sure that the growth of this type of experience over the past few years, including the Secret Cinema type events, has received a serious boost from the growth of gaming over the past few decades, where players have become used to inserting themselves into the story in a way that wasn't possible with the more linear nature of earlier art forms.

We've come a long way from the 'choose your own story' books of the 70's and 80's!  I'm looking forward to see where this goes next.