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Tuesday, January 21, 2020
Meow Wolf x No Proscenium's Guide to the Immersive U.S.
Meow Wolf: No matter where you live in the U.S., there are immersive experiences within reach. Discover performance artists, museums, and theaters offering opportunities to venture into strange new worlds!
4 comments:
Apriah W.
said...
I have really been enjoying the growing popularity of immersive experiences and seeing the new ideas that people are coming up with. It's pretty interesting to see how creatives tell stories, not in a way where people will be sitting back and watching it unfold, but where they are experiencing it for themselves and often times get to interact with what is going on. I was happy to see that this article used the phrase "immersive experience" instead of "immersive theatre" because there are times when the later phrase is used and I question whether it is actually theatre. I get confused by the boundary lines of what is considered "immersive theatre." Sometimes I feel as though the phrase may be slightly overextended. The experience may be immersive, but it's not always theatre. Though, this is based off of my personal opinion. When I think of theatre, I feel as though some form of performance is involved (even if that's just an actor sitting still and saying no words for the whole time). So I don't consider things like art installations or walking through a highly themed and designed garden, for example, immersive theatre. Again, this is only my opinion, but I digress. With that being said, I appreciate this run down of immersive experiences in the U.S. because many of them tend to be so well thought through and it is something that we should try to experience before it all dies out, because they all have something different to offer. I also think that it helps us to appreciate all of the different forms of theatre (or experiences).
I almost always make a comment on an article that mentions Meow Wolf since I visited their Santa Fe location mt senior year and absolutely loved it. It’s cool to see an article that lists a bunch of different kinds of immersive experiences around the country and the sheer variety of things available. One of the places listed in the article was the ‘House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI, which I’ve been to once many many years ago. It was one of the strangest places I’ve visited but the intricacy and sheer level of things there was incredible and I’d love to go back there again now that I’m older and will probably remember more of it. I hope that I get a chance to visit more of the places listed on here at some point as well. Personally this is more the type of thing that I want to be able to work on Later in life. There’s something special about being able to completely dive into another world, realistic or fantastical, that can bring back a sense of wonder into being alive. (Though maybe that’s just my problem with escapism…).
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m becoming more aware of the creative world around me, or because immersive artistic experiences are gaining momentum, but I’ve noticed an increased occurrence of these ‘productions’ in the last few years. I think I first experienced the world of immersive art when I went to the City Museum as a kid. That place is crazy—you can travel between floors in a slide, theres indoor caves. I’ve also heard of the theatre listed in Atlanta, called Serene. They did a production of Titanic a year or two ago where the set literally sank into the property’s lake every single night and the actors jumped into the water in their costumes. I really appreciate these immersive experiences because they have a significant impact on audience experience and bring us closer to the story. And, these artistic endeavors aren’t necessarily always traditional theatre, they’re more portable or mobile, and I love how that exposes more people to this art form. As technology and ideas continue to evolve, I look forward to watching the path that this type of art continues down.
With theatre being an ever evolving art form, it only makes sense that the next step would be to increase audience involvement with the piece. Meow Wolf’s collection of these interactive art pieces is extremely useful in highlighting these amazing and forward thinking pieces. I was able to go to the wndr museum, which was referenced in this article, this winter break and I was in awe of all of the wonderful designs and my friends and I had a blast the entire time. Going through the pictures alone amazed me with their creative designs and methods of interaction. These new exhibits provide a new way for designers to get involved in such a competitive industry. I also feel the attraction of the interaction is a great way to give new crowds a gateway into more forms of expressive art such as theatre when there have been critiques of theatre being more behind. I appreciated the article for its collection and feel it's a great reference point to explore more of the artistic world in the states.
4 comments:
I have really been enjoying the growing popularity of immersive experiences and seeing the new ideas that people are coming up with. It's pretty interesting to see how creatives tell stories, not in a way where people will be sitting back and watching it unfold, but where they are experiencing it for themselves and often times get to interact with what is going on. I was happy to see that this article used the phrase "immersive experience" instead of "immersive theatre" because there are times when the later phrase is used and I question whether it is actually theatre. I get confused by the boundary lines of what is considered "immersive theatre." Sometimes I feel as though the phrase may be slightly overextended. The experience may be immersive, but it's not always theatre. Though, this is based off of my personal opinion. When I think of theatre, I feel as though some form of performance is involved (even if that's just an actor sitting still and saying no words for the whole time). So I don't consider things like art installations or walking through a highly themed and designed garden, for example, immersive theatre. Again, this is only my opinion, but I digress. With that being said, I appreciate this run down of immersive experiences in the U.S. because many of them tend to be so well thought through and it is something that we should try to experience before it all dies out, because they all have something different to offer. I also think that it helps us to appreciate all of the different forms of theatre (or experiences).
I almost always make a comment on an article that mentions Meow Wolf since I visited their Santa Fe location mt senior year and absolutely loved it. It’s cool to see an article that lists a bunch of different kinds of immersive experiences around the country and the sheer variety of things available. One of the places listed in the article was the ‘House on the Rock in Spring Green, WI, which I’ve been to once many many years ago. It was one of the strangest places I’ve visited but the intricacy and sheer level of things there was incredible and I’d love to go back there again now that I’m older and will probably remember more of it. I hope that I get a chance to visit more of the places listed on here at some point as well. Personally this is more the type of thing that I want to be able to work on Later in life. There’s something special about being able to completely dive into another world, realistic or fantastical, that can bring back a sense of wonder into being alive. (Though maybe that’s just my problem with escapism…).
I don’t know if it’s just because I’m becoming more aware of the creative world around me, or because immersive artistic experiences are gaining momentum, but I’ve noticed an increased occurrence of these ‘productions’ in the last few years. I think I first experienced the world of immersive art when I went to the City Museum as a kid. That place is crazy—you can travel between floors in a slide, theres indoor caves. I’ve also heard of the theatre listed in Atlanta, called Serene. They did a production of Titanic a year or two ago where the set literally sank into the property’s lake every single night and the actors jumped into the water in their costumes. I really appreciate these immersive experiences because they have a significant impact on audience experience and bring us closer to the story. And, these artistic endeavors aren’t necessarily always traditional theatre, they’re more portable or mobile, and I love how that exposes more people to this art form. As technology and ideas continue to evolve, I look forward to watching the path that this type of art continues down.
With theatre being an ever evolving art form, it only makes sense that the next step would be to increase audience involvement with the piece. Meow Wolf’s collection of these interactive art pieces is extremely useful in highlighting these amazing and forward thinking pieces. I was able to go to the wndr museum, which was referenced in this article, this winter break and I was in awe of all of the wonderful designs and my friends and I had a blast the entire time. Going through the pictures alone amazed me with their creative designs and methods of interaction. These new exhibits provide a new way for designers to get involved in such a competitive industry. I also feel the attraction of the interaction is a great way to give new crowds a gateway into more forms of expressive art such as theatre when there have been critiques of theatre being more behind. I appreciated the article for its collection and feel it's a great reference point to explore more of the artistic world in the states.
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