By Janet Sellers
This summer season we’ve had a wide variety of art experiences to enjoy in our area. Our monthly Art Hop showcases available local art and artists and weekly concerts offered music at Fox Run Regional Park and Monument’s Limbach Park. The Palmer Lake Arts District has offered Shakespeare plays, sculptures, and art openings and classes.
We’ve had the images from the students of the Monumental Impact program digital artificial intelligence art show fundraiser at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry, along with our ever-present art sculpture parks and art walks along our Tri-Lakes Santa Fe Trail. We can always bring our visiting guests and families to these great, free events. Art Hop is also a seasonal chance to go into town and enjoy our galleries, artists, and the outdoor art fair atmosphere around town.
New on the art scene are immersive art experiences that are all the rage internationally, from enormous warehouses-turned-art-experience to small venues that engage visitors with much more because they are more personal and fun. The smaller venues offer art, of course. But the immersive experience fills the senses with sight, sound, and more. Standing back from the art wall is not as engaging as a space with artists’ live poetry and art projector images on the walls or people. Everyone experiences it in the present moment—there’s no time for photo-worthy social media because everybody is actively involved.
Immersion can include action painting by an artist, poetry reading, light shows, nature sounds, or music, and even audiences taking action. People can observe art in a new, creative way as an experience. Projecting images in video or stills around the room or on the people are also innovative ways to engage the visitors.
Different from performance art, video art, or installation art, an immersive art experience involves the rapport of the creative presenters and the live audience. It’s using visual and other human senses to share a creative and fun moment in time. People cannot get this on their own just by looking at static artworks or being in a theater. It is curated by the artists for the experience.
The immersive experience allows artists to lead with art and entertaining stories or poems. It is highly interactive and removes common limits to include multiple creative experiences in one go. And it is not formal. It’s more like a conversation of enjoyment of the art and visitors. People can stand and watch or interact as a mixed reality. Imagine the projected image or video on the people and you get the idea—the people become part of the art experience.
A special immersive event that includes art, light, and poems is planned at Bella Art and Frame Gallery for the season’s last Art Hop Sept. 21. Local poets Mary Brown and me will read short flash poetry works (haiku and more) from our books, and artworks with immersive imagery from my books.
Janet Sellers is an artist, writer, and speaker, sharing her works locally and across the country. Contact her at JanetSellers@ocn.me.
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