This Must-See Van Gogh Installation Is Expanding for Its New York Debut

“Immersive Van Gogh,” the high-tech, greatly acclaimed art installation that celebrates the work of the iconic Dutch painter, will officially open in New York on June 10 with a number of new and unique features.

Created by Italian film producer Massimiliano Siccardi, with original music by composer Luca Longobardi, “Immersive Van Gogh” will be on display in New York through September 6 at Pier 36, a 70,000-square-foot facility on the East River of Manhattan. The exhibition also is currently or will be on display in 18 other cities across North America.

The New York iteration of “Immersive Van Gogh” will offer over 500,000 cubic feet of animated projections—created by almost 100-state-of-the-art projectors—of the painter’s most famous works, including his 1887 Self Portrait With Grey Felt Hat, Bedroom in Arles from 1888, three iris paintings from 1889 and 1890, and The Starry Night from 1889, which is on display at the Museum of Modern Art further uptown.

What will make New York’s “Immersive Van Gogh” exhibition special and different from other iterations will be the contributions of David Korins, creator of set designs for Broadway musicals such as Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, and production designer for the 2019 Academy Awards; and Nathan Phillips, cofounder of Technology, Humans And Taste, a New York agency that employs technology to create concepts, campaigns, and products.

For the main lobby of the exhibition, Korins has recreated The Starry Night in 3D, using over 7,800 brushes dipped in paint that will hang from the ceiling. He also has created a 16-foot-square, carved foam version of an 1889 Van Gogh self-portrait from the Musee d’Orsay, which will greet visitors upon arrival. Korins believes this will provide “a greater understanding of Van Gogh’s exquisite, individual brushstrokes and muscularly specific way of painting.”

The lobby will also contain what Korins calls the sunflower wall, an Instagrammable wall featuring one of van Gogh’s most famous subjects. Korins hopes it will make visitors feel like they are standing in a field of these brightly iconic flowers.

Also unique to New York will be a chromesthesia experience, conceived by Korins. van Gogh had this medical condition: Those who do may perceive color in response to stimuli, such as words or numbers, that actually contain no color at all. In this section, visitors can walk through 10 booths featuring the colors Van Gogh used most frequently in his paintings, immersed in a light-and-sound show inspired by the way people with chromesthesia react to color.

Korins also is adding tiered observation platforms and mirrored sculptures to the venue’s four galleries, providing unique vantage points from which visitors will be able to view the projections. And he is creating “secret” spaces visitors can discover as they wander.

Phillips helped Korins create two other new interactive experiences for the New York show. One is a pocket gallery that will contain five virtual environments featuring five van Gogh paintings. Using a special augmented reality app, visitors will be able to see these paintings come to life: They will be able to interact with the virtual paint, unlock educational content, and immerse themselves in the famous works. Visitors also will be able to purchase a card that will allow them to “activate” all five paintings at home.

Another experience created by Korins and Phillips is “Letters From Vincent.” The lobby of the exhibition will contain a 15-foot-tall, 19th-century fountain pen surrounded by swirling pieces of paper; these will sit on a 10-foot-square reproduction of a letter written and illustrated by van Gogh. Visitors will be prompted to send van Gogh a message using their phone and can tell him how they were affected by his work, offer him encouragement, or inquire about his technique.

They will then receive a letter from van Gogh on their phone responding to their comments; each response will be uniquely generated by a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning that will scan nearly 1,000 of van Gogh’s actual letters. Visitors will be able to purchase a printed copy of their personalized letter, on antique paper in a wax-sealed envelope, written in (nearly) van Gogh’s handwriting and containing original, computer-generated art in the style of his sketches.

“We have all recently gone through this incredibly intense, difficult experience. No matter what your socioeconomic status is, you have encountered in some way, shape, or form loneliness, isolation, and confusion,” Korins recently said. “I think there is something iconic and elegant that [van Gogh] and his body of work are signaling back a reopening of the arts for New York City and our cultural landscape.”

Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest