CMU School of Drama


Monday, September 14, 2020

Digital Projection brings Pompeii to life at Grand Palais in Paris

blooloop: Digital Projection, a specialist in LED laser projectors, has revealed more about supporting ETC Onlyview in an ambitious project bringing Pompeii to life at the Grand Palais in Paris.

The Réunion des Musées Nationaux – Grand Palais’ immersive Pompeii experience was created in collaboration with the Pompeii Archaeological Park and Gedeon Programmes.

4 comments:

Elizabeth P said...

I am always looking for ways that museums and other public projects are working to make history more interactive and interesting to the general public. When I was little, my favorite places to go were history museums, specifically the Milwaukee Public Museum which has an exhibit that allows you to walk down the streets of “Old Milwaukee.” There’s an additional edge when you get to believe you are physically a part of the space - you understand more nuanced consequences and get a new perspective on things you’ve probably only read or heard about. Now it might be a bit more difficult to create an in person replica of Pompeii, so I really like their approach with the digital projectors, as well as the pre-existing artefacts. As technology evolves, we have the opportunity to utilize it to take us to places that would have otherwise been stuck in history books. It’s interesting that they chose the initial endeavor to be about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and also how they chose to show both pre, during, and post eruption. Hopefully the public has an overall, positive reaction to this, and this inspires interest in a similar format for other historical events throughout space and time.

Annika Evens said...

I think the idea of this exhibit is really cool. I went to a Pompeii exhibit that traveled through Seattle about 5 years ago, and I was fascinated by it. I think it is my favorite museum exhibit I had ever been to. As part of that exhibit, there was an IMAX movie that we watched where it just like showed us what happened. So it was kind of like this projection idea but just a movie and not immersive projections. But I think the idea of these projections is incredible. I believe the experience of feeling like you are surrounded by the city and watching the event happen all around would be an experience like no other and I would absolutely love to see something like this sometime. While reading this article I also kept thinking about the 4D Muppet theatre thing in Disney Land and how cool this exhibit or exhibits like this Pompeii one could be if they started to incorporate wind or smells to the experience.

Jin Oh said...

I am amazed to see how every aspects of art is improving with relation to theatrical elements. To be honest, museum had always been somewhat boring site for me when I was young. However, as I began to attend a few exhibitions from couple years ago, that idea has entirely changed. Museum or exhibition are not just the listing of certain paintings or artifacts anymore, it is where you can actually “experience” the art. Just like how Grand Palais’ immersive Pompeii experience did. I love how they have chosen such an ancient site that existed the number of centuries ago, to be presented via projected screens, which is one of the main digital methods that are used these days. This gave me a sense of coexistence of modern and ancient features, and made me more aware of history with a curiosity about how would our most developed cities would be exhibited centuries later. It is my personal idea, but I think having holograms of the actual sites would be also helpful if the space permits.

Ari Cobb said...

It’s always really interesting to see all of the different ways museums tackle exhibitions. I think it’s pretty clever to use projections throughout the exhibit to show Pompeii before, during, and after the eruption, and I think it’s a pretty cool way of making it feel more impactful and immersive. I do have to say though, I prefer when exhibits have more 3D elements and everything isn’t just projections and screens. To me, it’s much more effective to have real built elements and then mix in some projections and virtual media, rather than just rely on the screens alone. I do sort of understand why it’s less physical though due to probably time constraints, considering it’s a temporary exhibit, and in case it ever needed to move. However I still think this exhibit is pretty cool and I bet I’d find it very interesting if I could go visit. I hope it does well.