The senior curator of the Frameless immersive art experience on working with tech people, bringing fresh perspectives to old paintings, and making galleries accessible to everyone
Interview: Emily Jupp
Q: How did you come to be curating immersive exhibitions at Frameless?
A: I work for a company called Artcapes UK, and we were brought in as consultant curators. We work with art historians and create art experiences, but I’ve never worked with anything immersive before now.
Q: How is it different?
A: I like it, we’re working with animators and incredible tech people. When I gave them a two-dimensional painting file, they could do all these amazing things that I never thought possible. All those ideas you have when you look at a painting, they make real. You might think, that sense of movement in the art, if we could actually make it move that would be amazing. And they do it! I’ve always imagined what it would be like if the spirit that Turner painting actually hit that rock. Now I’m seeing it happen. It’s really cool.
Q: How has the tech behind immersive exhibitions developed in recent years?
A: The technology has come on in leaps and bounds. I think some of the first people to do it were Culturespaces, who created Atelier des Lumières in Paris. But there are constant jumps forward in this projection technology. Here at Frameless, they partnered with Panasonic with this incredible technology, which we hope is going to be the next leap forward. And I think between the projection technology and the animators themselves, we’ve set a high bar.
Q: Tell us about the galleries.
A: We’ve got four immersive galleries to explore, and each has a different theme. As a curator, I really wanted those themes to be quite open and accessible. I think traditional museums intimidate a lot of people, those huge buildings with quietness everywhere, paintings against stark white walls and everyone telling you to shush. Especially if you’re a child, that’s not a fun experience. Whereas hopefully here, they can run and roll around and literally do cartwheels as they’re experiencing the art. It’s a really informative, fun experience. The whole point is that anyone could come into this space, even if they’ve never been to an art gallery. Even if they connect with just one painting, it might be the start of their journey into art history.
Q: In the Beyond Reality gallery, which explores surrealism, there are mirrors on the floor and walls and the art is projected around you. What’s the thinking there?
A: The point of having the mirrors is that you’re reflecting something that is already quite strange. I describe it as like Alice going through the looking glass. The image constantly reflected, making it even more surreal.
Q: What other galleries are there?
A: Colour in Motion explores the impressionists, post-impressionists and neo-impressionists. There are a lot of happy children running around in there sweeping up virtual pointillist dots. I always say you’ll find your inner child there. You can become your own digital artist. They’re kind of moving and making things come alive.
We’ve also got The Art of Abstraction, which celebrates the pioneers of abstract art. This is the only gallery where we project inwards into a sort of maze.
Q: In The Art Of Abstraction, the projection goes through a gauzy screen, accompanied by a special jazz composition. It even gets a bit menacing at the end.
A: Yes. Because the art is bleeding through, crossing over surfaces. So the abstract art is abstracting. That’s kind of the play on words; “the art of abstraction”, which is my personal joke, which no one else gets.
Finally, the biggest gallery is called The World Around Us, which essentially celebrates artists who have captured the beauty of our world through paint. I guess the best thing for me about having quite open themes is that I can put together paintings that would never exist side by side in a traditional gallery space, which is really cool.
Q: Is this permanent or will you change the galleries?
A: At some point, there will be a complete refresh of all four galleries to bring in brand new themes with different technology and different music. But at the moment, it seems to be going down very well, so that’s for the future.
Q: How do you balance the spectacle with the art itself?
A: What was really important to the creative director and the whole team is that the technology and the art complement each other. They don’t fight each other. The way we’ve projected them, the way we’ve animated them, is all about enhancing the art, not taking anything away from it. What you’re able to do with the technology is zoom in on details that you’ve not noticed before, meaning you’re seeing it in a whole different context.
Q: What do people say to you about their experience here?
A: They often say that they’ve really connected to a particular painting and that they really want to go read about it and learn more about the artist or go and see the work if it’s in London. That for me is very fulfilling because it’s made them curious about seeing the real thing. Anyone can come here and have a great time, whether or not they think they’re into art. Hopefully they come away with a love of art in some form.
FRAMELESS
4 Marble Arch, W1H 7AP
frameless.com