Live art: A sea of light and sound

The Atelier des Lumières is a digital-age space for experiencing the fine arts, located in a former iron foundry in the centre of Paris. Run by Culturespaces, it is currently bringing the works of Klimt and Hundertwasser digitally to life in 3D animations. As an alternative to the reverent inspection of brilliant brushstrokes in lofty temples to art, visitors here are invited to immerse themselves in the entire world surrounding the works of the artists.

Right in the heart of Paris, the Atelier des Lumières is the largest-scale space for showing digital art in the world. Inside the former industrial building, with 3300 m² of projection surfaces and a floor area of 1500 m², 140 projectors work to transform not only the walls but also the floor into a wondrous sea of colours and images. It’s also a wonder that a new venue of these dimensions could be opened in the centre of Paris at all. At over 9000 Euros per square metre, living space in the French capital is at a dizzying premium.   

The first ‘exhibition’ – though ‘multimedia experience’ is more apt – is dedicated to the Vienna Secession, whose 100^th anniversary is currently being celebrated in the Austrian capital (as reported in BTR 1/2018). A team of IT specialists and art experts, all from Italy and led by Gianfranco Iannuzzi, created the panoramic projections in the form of animated films and tailored them to fit the architectural surroundings of the former iron foundry. Following images of the Vienna Secession and Gustav Klimt and his work, visitors experience Friedensreich Hundertwasser’s spiralling orgies of colour, as well as impressions of turn-of-the-century Vienna, the era of industrialisation, and the history of the former industrial site, which now performs a balancing act between art history and the digital future. 

The team at the Immersive Art Factory referenced some 6000 paintings, including 1000 by Klimt and 200 by Egon Schiele, to create the show. But rather than replacing a conventional exhibition, the Culturespaces agency’s immersive experiential space aims to create a world of sensation in which the artists’ paintings merge, spark connections, and generate new perspectives on their oeuvres. The public doesn’t come to solemnly view the artists’ work but to tangibly feel it. In this way, the dialogue is shifted from the cerebral to the emotional plane. Many visitors are drawn to the Atelier des Lumières mainly by the amazing technology, or because they want to get their children interested in painting. For them, making an emotional connection with art might be the start of a new passion.