SO immersive that I might be stuck here in a state of perpetual horror forever! Amazing!
Last time I went to an ‘immersive” art exhibit, I shelled out 45 dollars for mediocre Instagram photos and some slideshows that looked like they were being projected onto the blank walls of some random guy’s garage, so when the creators of Toronto’s REAL Immersive Art Experience reached out to me, I was sceptical. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the unconventional and truly extraordinary adventure the experience offered. And the shocker is, it’s totally free (in a monetary sense; I may have paid the entrance fee with my human soul)!
The exhibit is located in a random manhole I accidentally fell into on Spadina and Dundas on my way to the AGO. As far as I could tell, I was the only guest inside, which was an inviting contrast to the massive crowds I’ve encountered in other “immersive” exhibits. It was almost as if I had left my body entirely and was frolicking around in a state of purgatory. Awesome!
I stumbled into a dimly lit room, which I quickly realised was the painting The Potato Eaters by Van Gogh! So cool and atmospheric! The actors stared at me grimly and offered me some of their taters, but they were unseasoned and flavourless. Yuck! I will have to say, though, the free food was definitely appreciated—museum restaurants are just so expensive these days.
I left after I had procured my sustenance, entering what seemed to be the backrooms of the exhibit. It seemed like Van Gogh himself (or a weird, cyborg version of him) had entered the experience! I tried to ask him about his artwork, but I seemed to have hit a nerve.
“What is this Canadian girl doing here,” Van Gogh said with a robotic, Dutch accent. “I prefer to be stuck in this strange, eternal hell alone. Dank u wel.”
What a downer! Don’t meet your heroes, I guess. Suddenly, cyborg Van Gogh’s voice began to glitch like my Alexa after I spilled Diet Coke all over it that one time.
“Hello? Are you okay?” I said, my hands slowly approaching his robotic body, which had begun to violently shake.
“It’s not ‘hello,’ it’s hallo,” cyborg Van Gogh’s body croaked. I attempted to turn him off, but I was met with a bright, all-consuming light.
At first, I was totally confused as to what painting I was in. However, by tapping into my high school art class knowledge, observing the swirly orange sky I saw around me, and feeling such extreme existential dread that forced me to put both my hands on my face and let out a terror-induced shriek, I realised I was in the painting The Scream by Edvard Munch! I didn’t just experience the painting; I was the painting itself! This part of the exhibit was truly captivating, and it’s almost worth not quite being able to escape from this state of perpetual screaming and screaming! It’s dawning on me that no one can hear me, yet I can’t seem to stop from hollering for help! Absolutely phenomenal! Don’t miss this totally exclusive art experience–it’s fun for the whole family!