MONET BEYOND THE CANVAS BY HADLEY WURTZ
Being immersed in art projected on screens and set in motion with music, say visitors, made ‘Beyond Monet’ mesmerizing
S
tepping into a world of art, students, tourists and locals were enveloped by the motion-filled art displayed on 360-degree panoramic screens. Music flowed in and out in sync with the motion of the projected paintings at the “Beyond Monet” exhibit in Honolulu. “In Monet’s vision lies an incandescent world without a shore, a world of fleeting and effervescent reflections,” says the “Beyond Monet” website. Chloe Tiengerd, a senior majoring in travel industry management at the University of Honolulu, said the production “takes you through different emotions and sets the mood and the serenity.” She continued by exclaiming how amazing it was to see the art pieces come to life.
6 2 KE AL A K A‘I 2022
IMPRESSIONISM WITH A MODERN TWIST The exhibit, showcasing more than 400 of Claude Monet’s works, was separated into two rooms: the Garden Room and the Immersive Room, says the “Beyond Monet” website. The Garden room leads visitors through aspects of Monet’s life, his inspiration for his paintings, and the style of Impressionism, which became a key movement in art history, according to a plaque at the exhibit. Impressionism, as explained on one of the plaques in the Garden Room, was “radically nonconformist” for its time, when precise details and light usage in paintings were praised. Monet’s paintings embody a “gentle
luminance,” and thus, his paintings are “an open invitation to pure subjective expression” reads a Garden Room plaque. Emelia Mike, a junior from Malaysia majoring in communications, said the exhibit “gives a sense of modernity by combining the use of art, music and projections to bring the impressionist art to life.” She continued, “It’s a non-traditional way to immerse [the audience] in Monet’s world through the sense of touching, seeing and listening. I enjoyed every bit of it.”
Monet’s pictures are projected on the exhibit’s walls as museum visitors wander.