A friend of mine just called me up on the phone. “Say, I wondered what you think about this immersive Van Gogh exhibit.”
I hesitated to speak, but this friend has known me for years and is used to me having strong opinions.
“I feel like a wet blanket,” I said, “but I don’t really like the idea.”
“Yes, it would be better to have actual paintings by Van Gogh,” the friend said.
“Oh, I know that’s not practical.” I said. “But I feel so bad about what happened to Van Gogh. The poor man never got to enjoy any of the money or fame he generated.”
“I know.”
“I mean, people love Van Gogh, and it sounds like this immersive exhibit is a feel-good experience for people, and that’s great. I’m totally in favor of anything which makes people feel better these days, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.” I nodded in agreement with myself, even though my friend couldn’t see me over the landline.
“Mmmm.”
“But if they really want people to experience Van Gogh’s world, they should do something more realistic.” I leaned forward. “Like, what if they had a little room you go into and you smell what Van Gogh actually smelled like. Like you’re trapped in a tiny space with a crazy, unwashed male plein air painter?”
My friend said nothing.
“And what if they simulated a way people could experience actual plein air painting? You know, from the painter’s point of view. Like, the whole experience would be really uncomfortable with sunburn and bees?” I suddenly felt like I might be onto a truly great idea.
My friend remained silent.
“Of course with COVID you wouldn’t really be able to do the smell thing.” I stroked my chin with my fingers. “And I suppose there’d be lots of lawsuits with people getting stung by the bees.”
“Uh-huhm.”
I jumped to my feet. “Omigod, what if they did an immersive exhibit with MY artwork? THAT would be really scary! I wouldn’t even want to go to it!”
My friend laughed.
“Plus, it wouldn’t make any money.” I sat back down.
“Well, thanks for letting me know what you think about the immersive Van Gogh exhibit,” my friend said.
Then we went on to talk about other things, like how Artificial Intelligence is taking over the world and this summer in Minnesota has been too hot.