From November 1, 2024 to February 16, 2025, Monet, Van Gogh and Gaudi will set up their studios in Hangar Y, in Meudon, Hauts-de-Seine. Three immersive experiences for the public to immerse themselves in the creative process of these major artists of the 19th and 20th centuries.
A young institution barely two years old, Hangar Y is inviting three emblematic figures of artistic creation for its autumn season. This boldness is confirmed when we consider that the public will be immersed in immersive experiences to meet the great masters, through three virtual reality proposals programmed with success last year at the Orsay and Orangerie museums – or for GAUDI, awarded at numerous festivals and since presented in the Illucity network.
Lucid Realities (in collaboration with Tournez s’il vous plaît pour Monsieur Vincent) and Gedeon Experiences show their work in a place with a long history. The Hangar was built as the Galerie des Machines for the 1878 Universal Exhibition. Dismantled and then reassembled, it crossed the Paris ring road to take up residence in a park on the Domaine National in Meudon. La France, the first dirigible balloon, was a high point in the history of aeronautics, and this unusual building is its setting. Classified as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000, it is thanks in no small part to the energy of Frédéric Jousset, a multi-entrepreneur, that this site will find its new social and cultural vocation. After a prefiguration in 2022, the doors of this vast space will open in March 2023. Its credo is to democratize culture.
XR: conviction or experience for Hangar Y?
In an interview with Martin Bourguignat, director of audiences, and Aurélie Baron, director of artistic projects at Hangar Y, we discussed this question.
Frédéric Jousset’s project for Hangar Y is ambitious. The space is intended to be “an ambitious, multi-purpose cultural and events venue that will host a rich, multi-disciplinary, participatory and inclusive program”. As Aurélie Baron confirms, the institution’s president is keen to democratize access to culture and art: “We’re looking to make proposals for audiences who wouldn’t necessarily go and see them in conventional cultural institutions”.
From the outset of this adventure, digital culture has played an important role in our programmatic thinking,” assures Aurélie Baron. For example, the Hangar’s story is told through an interactive mixed reality experience (produced by RealCast). Last September, during the European Heritage Days, Zoé Vayssières presented her work “Portrait en 100 mots du Hangar”. In her Harvard laboratory, the artist engaged in a dialogue with an artificial intelligence to draw up a portrait of the place. The word that came up most often? Innovation.
Although XR is not new, it is increasingly taking over public spaces.
A few months ago, Martin Bourguignat launched an audience survey. This survey will enable him to find out more about his audiences and their expectations. Completing at the end of the year, it will also be an opportunity to analyze how these immersive travel proposals have been received. Among the information expected is whether the XR experience has attracted new visitors.
“We don’t have a collection,” explains Martin Bourguignat, “so we have to be demanding in our programming. He continues: “Every project we propose must be of high quality, and be a sufficient driving force to attract and satisfy the public”. This is Hangar Y’s promise.
Curation is therefore essential. The choice of works, whether digital or not, must be guided by the objective reiterated by Martin Bourguignat: “to come to the Hangar is to experience something magical”. Events such as these are essential to the acculturation of virtual reality content, offering free roaming, interactive or linear, collective or standalone experiences, and can accelerate the democratization of these new cultural proposals within identified institutions.
The XR sector is “a world in its own right”, adds the Director of Audiences. You have to know where to look, and grasp all the technical nuances and specific issues involved in welcoming the public, he insists. “We already have a fleet of 90 Pico helmets for the Hangar Y Epic, so we’ll be taking 30 and injecting them into the extraordinary workshops.” The other helmets will be rented for the occasion. Among the factors that appealed to the Hangar team: the turnkey project dimension, the sense it made for the venue and the compatibility with the space.
According to Martin Bourguignat, being accompanied by professionals with whom to exchange views on any subject was a key factor in this approach. The choice of inviting great masters known to the general public for this first occasion also represents a relatively controlled gamble for the young gallery.
A thoughtful scenography and facilitating mediation for existing works.
As Aurélie Baron asserts, at Hangar Y, we think in terms of visitor pathways. Works are thoughtfully displayed in the park, which can also host events such as last year’s immersive digital exhibition Recharger/Unwind, in collaboration with Canadians Oasis Immersion. The stroll leads to the building. How will the extraordinary workshops fit into this atypical universe? “We’re treating these digital works like a classic exhibition. The public will find all the codes to which they are accustomed. In fact, an umbrella title has been designed to encapsulate different creations. Aurélie Baron promises to provide introductory texts to help less experienced visitors feel at ease with the experience. Making-of videos of the works will also be shown. Everyone needs to understand what they’re about to experience, and realize that an immense amount of work has gone into this twenty-minute journey. Mediation will be provided to ensure that no visitor is left in the lurch.
The Extraordinary Workshops are a response to the Hangar Y’s objective of offering its public an educational and entertaining visit. It is also a way of opening up to programming in conjunction with major cultural venues such as the Orsay and Orangerie museums, to bring certain works closer to a public less aware of these opportunities for cultural and digital discovery.
A coherent pricing policy
This was also discussed with producers and distributors. Hangar Y has developed a pricing policy in line with its desire to democratize for all audiences, including those unaccustomed to cultural offerings who travel little or not at all outside major metropolises. It also has a well-established audience, accustomed to enjoying proposals within an established budgetary framework. As the current audience is predominantly family-oriented, the price of the admission ticket has been an issue in both the economic and philosophical balance of the venue.
One answer: the ticket for L’Épopée du Hangar is 13 euros; for 1 euro more, the public can experience a magical immersion (Gaudi or Monet/Van Gogh). Of course, to make it even more attractive, a combined ticket at 25 euros allows visitors to immerse themselves in the creative path of these three artists.
Will there be an after “ateliers extraordinaires” XR at Hangar Y?
Aurélie Baron and Martin Bourguignat both agree that autumn will be a recurring season dedicated to the digital arts. XR will have its place alongside other modes of creative expression.
To make Hangar Y a regular venue for the dissemination of XR works, that’s a project.
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Practical information
“The extraordinary workshops of Monet, Van Gogh and Gaudi
November 1, 2024 to February 16, 2025
At Hangar Y – 9, avenue de Trivaux 92190 Meudon
Opening hours: 1:00 pm to 7:00 pm weekends year-round and all week during school vacations
Children aged 8 and over
Prices: €14 full price (Gaudi or Monet/Van Gogh) or €25 combined (Gaudi + Monet/Van Gogh)
Claude Monet – The obsession with water lilies
A VR experience by Nicolas Thépot.
Coproduction: Lucid Realities, ARTE France, Camera lucida productions, Musées d’Orsay et de l’Orangerie, Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion
Distribution: Unframed Collection.
Through a dialogue between the painter and his great friend, the statesman Georges Clémenceau, the virtual reality experience takes viewers on a journey through the seasons to the heart of the Giverny garden and its famous water lilies. This poetic exploration of Monet’s work transforms the artist’s studio into a whirlwind of color.
A VR experience by Agnès Molia and Gordon.
Coproduction: Lucid Realities, TSVP, Musée d’Orsay, VIVE Arts
Distribution: Unframed Collection.
In the house of Dr. Gachet in Auvers-sur-Oise, the viewer is guided by the voice of his daughter Marguerite, one of the last women whose portrait Van Gogh painted. The experience explores Van Gogh’s masterpieces from the angle of color, through a virtual journey through the painter’s palette, leading to a better understanding of the artist’s impasto technique.
GAUDÍ, the Workshop of the Divine
A VR experience by Stéphane Landowski and Gaël Cabouat.
Coproduction: GEDEON Experiences – Small Creative – NHK, in partnership with the Junta Constructora Del Temple Expiatoire de la Sagrada Familia Foundation.
GAUDÍ, l’Atelier du Divin is a narrative, collective and ambulatory VR experience that has won awards at numerous international festivals. Visitors are invited on an immersive, dreamlike journey to the heart of the Catalan master’s lost workshop, reproduced for the first time as close as possible to historical reality. Playing the role of Gaudí’s disciples, viewers discover the architect’s extraordinary personality, his revolutionary working methods, his teeming universe, his inspirations and explore his life’s work: the Sagrada Familia.