The Immersive Van Gogh Experience Is a Screensaver Wearing a Beret

It is time to say what everyone is thinking while standing inside a warehouse watching sunflowers crawl up the walls: the immersive Van Gogh experience is a very expensive screensaver.

Not a bad screensaver. A beautiful screensaver. The kind that makes you want to buy a linen shirt, forgive your enemies, and dramatically stare out a rainy window. But still: a screensaver.

The selling point is scale. Van Gogh’s brushstrokes become enormous, his skies swirl across the floor, and “The Starry Night” expands until you can practically fall into it. This is undeniably fun. It is also about as close to looking at a Van Gogh as standing next to a billboard of a croissant is to eating breakfast.

A painting is not merely an image. It is an object with edges, weight, surface, and a stubborn physical presence. You can see where the paint was dragged, where the artist changed his mind, where one color bumps against another like two strangers forced to share an airplane armrest. A projection gives you the picture while removing the thing that makes a painting a painting.

And then there is the music. Why must every projected masterpiece be accompanied by swelling piano? Van Gogh’s work already contains drama. The man painted a vase of flowers as if the flowers had personally betrayed him. We do not need a soundtrack informing us that the sunflowers are emotionally significant.

Still, I understand the appeal. These shows invite people who might never enter a traditional gallery. They make art physically approachable, especially for children, families, and anyone who has ever looked at a museum map and thought, “Absolutely not; I will be in the gift shop.” If a giant glowing wheat field sends someone toward the real paintings, wonderful.

But let’s call it what it is: an entertainment inspired by art, not a replacement for art. Enjoy the swirling projections. Take the photograph. Buy the mug if the mug brings you peace. Just don’t let the screensaver convince you that you have met Van Gogh. You have only met his very cinematic ghost.