The concept of the exhibition “One on one with art” implies direct communication of the viewer with the work of art, with the achievement of the effect of maximum immersion in the plot and atmosphere of the painting, including the possibility of modeling the primary “medieval” perception of it. The exposition uses several fundamental techniques:
β One viewer β one picture! Unlike typical exhibitions, where many people and whole excursions get acquainted with the exposition at the same time, this exposition implies communication of the viewer with the work “one-on-one”, which may be unusual, but allows you to remove “extraneous noise and interference” and enhance the effect of perception of the work of art. Only the viewer and the picture! For this purpose, the viewing should be regulated by time, so that the audience could not come together. For example, before one viewer exits, another viewer does not start. And, of course, no employees and guides.
β Approaching the picture as part of the psychological preparation for viewing. The task is not to simplify the approaches to the work, making them as comfortable as possible for the “consumer” (which is the sin of modern civilization), but on the contrary β to complicate access, up to the creation of artificial transitions and blockages, from the path laid between the “garbage” so that the viewer makes a certain way of approaching the goal associated with physical, but primarily turn by psychological overcoming and raising expectations. Such a technique gradually, as you move, prepares the viewer for the perception of the work, enhances the intrigue, creates an unusual, maybe even disturbing atmosphere, exciting the imagination.
β Darkness. For the same reason, the exhibition should be held at night without electric lighting, which will be a kind of reference to the times of the Renaissance, when the paintings were illuminated not by light bulbs, but by candles. That is, it will be a simulation of the conditions of a “medieval exposition” with the possibility of “immersion” in the atmosphere of the past, so that a modern person can see the picture through the eyes of “primary” viewers. From the author’s point of view, a picture illuminated by candles instead of powerful spotlights is a completely different picture, with a different perception of the viewer and unexpected dynamic and color effects.
β Dynamic lighting should make the painting “play” and allow the viewer to be, to some extent, the “co-author” of the artist. To achieve this effect, it is necessary to exclude any light sources, except for one candle (or candles in a candlestick), which is carried by the viewer himself. As you get closer to the picture, due to the changing lighting angles, the image will float and “come to life”. At the same time, the viewer himself can choose the most spectacular, from his point of view, angle of view and lighting, which will be a joint creative work with the artist. At the exit, a survey of viewers is possible, who will be able to formulate their perception of the painting and the exhibition as a whole.
The first such exhibition in Europe will be held in the building of the former prison in Zittau. A century-old prison with more than 300 solitary cells, which has retained its original appearance, creates the required atmosphere. The exhibition “One on one with Art”, held in such an unusual building with a tragic history and atmosphere, promises the strongest impressions that cannot be obtained anywhere else!
Exhibitions will be held as soon as applications are received from interested viewers. Applications can be sent by e-mail info@gallery-prison.com