At the weekend I immersed myself in another solo experience and having spent the morning hiking hills (the reason is for another blog!) I headed into Bradford for something I’d been putting off for months!

Now, the reasons I’d been putting it off is two-fold and probably quite common as well. Firstly, going on solo adventures hasn’t always felt comfortable (feels weird, shame, guilt… all those emotions), but 4 years on from Simon dying I am now embracing, and loving, solo life.

The second reason was absolute laziness!

Ever do that? Procrastinate and put things off until you miss out and then mildly regret it later? So, what was in Bradford this time that I’d been wanting to visit for months and despite the constant Facebook Ad reminders had held off?

It was the ‘Van Gogh Alive’ experience.

According to the info, this is ‘ the world’s most visited immersive multi-sensory experience’. It has attracted over 8 million visitors across 80 cities worldwide and I am so glad I added myself to that tally.

It was a truly lovely experience where the life, words and paintings of the troubled and praised painter were brought to life, with the both still and animated versions of his incredible artwork, all set to a programme of carefully curated classical music that reflected and complimented the paint on the canvas. I couldn’t tell you exactly how long this journey through his life lasted, though I was there about an hour for the whole exhibition, as I was truly in awe and immersed in the experience, sat on the floor enjoying the music, artwork and quotes from his writing.

A few of the quotes really resonated with me, such as:

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together”
and
“I don’t’ know anything with certainty, but seeing the stars makes me dream”

I hadn’t really known all that much about Van Gogh, aside from he became most famous after his untimely death by suicide but seeing his words and pictures together set through a timeline of his life you really got the true essence of him and could see how his artwork changed with his moods and despite his experiences with mental illness and consequently suicide, there was an extreme calmness to his work. He was the epitome of ‘dying for his art’; a choice he perhaps made to give his art the kudos it so deserved? Maybe? After all, his artwork only rose to fame, selling for millions, after his death.

There is no doubting the letters he wrote are a wonderful insight to his life and work. If you’re interested, they are published and you can grab them here

The exhibition is divided into three areas, with the immersive experience first. You then move to the sunflower room, which to be honest was a bit disappointing as I half expected another immersive experience surrounded by the beauty that is his sunflower paintings, but actually it was a mirrored corridor with some faux sunflowers! Opportunity for a selfie though!

After a small gallery of a boards of info on a few of his paintings, section three is essentially a gift shop… blink and you miss it!

So sections two and three were fairly insignificant but the actual immersive experience was well worth the visit in my opinion, and actually something I would re-visit.

You can catch the experience in Bradford only until the end of the month (yes! I really did leave it late!), but the experience will be re-opening in Brighton in the Spring, so get your trip to Brighton booked and have a visit.

All the info is here!

Much love
Tabby x