A Sensory Jaunt
The Art of the Digital Museum and Gallery Experience.
By Kuba Lecki, writing from Melbourne, Australia.
The Salon Room at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia | Photography by Kuba Lecki
“Back to Square One” isn’t exactly the brightest or most optimistic of phrases; certainly not one you would like to hear in our current circumstances, but alas, back to square one is exactly where we find ourselves in a sense, at least socially and culturally speaking.
The extraordinary but all too familiar experience of having our cultural institutions closed has meant that we must seek out cultural experiences everywhere else except in the physical spaces we had become accustomed to. These closures had once more put a spotlight on the rather intimate nature of our relationship with cultural activity. Our previous and very privileged position of having endless choice in how we would like to experience art and culture, has been challenged like never before.
The extraordinary but all too familiar experience of having our cultural institutions closed has meant that we must seek out cultural experiences everywhere else except in the physical spaces we had become accustomed to. These closures had once more put a spotlight on the rather intimate nature of our relationship with cultural activity. Our previous and very privileged position of having endless choice in how we would like to experience art and culture, has been challenged like never before.
For me, the mixture of plentiful free time and forced isolation brought about a challenge to my own relationship with art and culture. How could I experience the museum and gallery space like I was so used to? For someone who regularly engaged with the physical component of culture, I found myself at an enormous loss. Then came the questions. Sizeable, all-encompassing, and somewhat existential questions began to consume my consciousness. I began to think about the importance of art and culture in a time like this.
Questions like “do we need to experience culture physically to have an authentic experience?” and “can the cultural experience be replicated in the digital sphere? Or indeed improved upon?” began to dominate my thinking. This burning curiosity was no doubt a direct result of the coursework that I was undertaking as part of my master’s degree in arts and cultural management. Throughout the course, which commenced in the midst of the pandemic I might add, we were often confronted with developing cultural issues such as widespread museum closures, the digitalization of arts content, and all the challenges this presented to our global society. It had me constantly thinking about how the cultural experience could be transformed and subsequently adapted for the screen.
Questions like “do we need to experience culture physically to have an authentic experience?” and “can the cultural experience be replicated in the digital sphere? Or indeed improved upon?” began to dominate my thinking.
And then by sheer serendipitous coincidence I was invited to a cultural experience in the form of a virtual wine tasting courtesy of Christian Dior and Maison Krug Champagne. The first cultural activity I had engaged in since our (second) lockdown began.
The experience was headed by the marvelous CEO of Maison Krug, Mme. Maggie Henríquez, who had spoken at length about the (rather brilliant) initiative she had created at Krug, in pairing champagne tasting with music to create a heightened, multi-sensory experience. This inventiveness started off a chain reaction in my thinking about how I could apply these principles to the arts.
I decided to investigate for myself, having been directly inspired by the virtuosity and imagination of Mme. Henríquez. I thought to myself, if wine and music can be paired to create a more immersive experience, then why not wine and art? Or scent and art? Or why not even combine wine, music, scent, and art, altogether?
…if wine and music can be paired to create a more immersive experience, then why not wine and art? Or scent and art? Or why not even combine wine, music, scent, and art, altogether?
I then embarked on the somewhat ambitious task of creating a multi-sensory experience at home for myself. Naturally, I thought, I should start with champagne and music, as this was the source of my inspiration and a solid starting point. Fortunately I still had one bottle of Krug 2006 Vintage left over from the digital wine tasting. I organized the chilling of the wine beforehand and when it was ready, scanned the barcode at the back of the bottle to bring about the curated soundtrack of music that was created by Maison Krug in partnership with artists such as Ozark Henry and Jacky Terrasson. As I played the music and tasted the champagne, letting “the flavours and aroma in the glass resonate with the sounds”, I realized Maison Krug was onto something.
The mingling of senses did in fact bring about an experience that was unique and exciting.
I took my learning’s and decided to trial them in other settings. Luckily I had an abundance of options to choose from, and decided to zero in on the exhibition content that was available online. Fashion at Versailles by the Château de Versailles was at the top of my list, as was the virtual experience at the National Gallery. I had also heard great things about what was being offered at the Jacquemart-André Museum for the showing of Turner: Peintures et Aquarelles.
I inaugurated my sensory-cultural experiment by lighting an old Astier de Villatte candle that I had lying around, and opening a bottle of wine. As the scent of Cambridge gently wafted through my room and as I took the first taste of my wine, I started my journey.
As I “stood” outside the museum on the Boulevard Haussmann, accompanied by the slightest sound of birds chirping (I kid you not), I paused for a brief moment to engage my senses. I then continued on, stepping into the museum space, with the added layer of the faintest chatter and crowd murmuring (did I hear footsteps?). And so it went, room by room I continued on, pausing every now and then to take in a painting as I would if I had been physically present in the museum space.
Before I knew it, after a solid amount of time and a solid amount of Chablis Premier Cru, my visit had come to an end. My senses had been fully engaged and this had in fact enhanced my viewing experience. After all, when you do engage your senses in a way that is purposeful, your experience does become something more interesting, more visceral, and gratifying.
Of course my first cultural-digital-sensory jaunt, if you like, had been exactly that; a short journey taken for pleasure. A journey that I had orchestrated, rather successfully I might add, without having ever left the confines of my home.
I was equally delighted at the fact that I had cleverly coordinated the scents of a Cambridgeshire garden through my choice of candle to reflect the scents that perhaps J. M. W. Turner might have experienced himself when making his sketches or watercolours. And although I know Mr. Turner painted mostly in other parts of Britain, the idea of being transported at least to an English garden was a good sensory starting point for the purpose of the experiment.
For my next sensory jaunt however I have decided it will involve a considerably more authentic tone. That is, when I do get around to visiting Fashion at Versailles, I will do so with exactly the right sensory amalgamation. For the scent I have decided on Solis Rex by Cire Trudon, which is envisioned as an olfactory reflection of the Château de Versailles itself. For the sound I have chosen the composer Glück, who was considered to be a favourite of Marie Antoinette: her clothes of course a focal point of the exhibition.
Needless to say I have taken this sensory-digital-cultural experience hybrid quite seriously. However, that does not mean by any means that a similar, entirely pleasurable and equivalent sensory experience cannot be had using different ingredients, so to speak. On the contrary, I encourage experimentation with your own sensory spectrum in order to create a highly personalized and intimate sensory jaunt to call your own. After all, isn’t that what having a cultural experience all about?
On the contrary, I encourage experimentation with your own sensory spectrum in order to create a highly personalized and intimate sensory jaunt to call your own. After all, isn’t that what having a cultural experience all about?
Furthermore, the beauty of crafting ones own cultural experience at home is precisely that we are the architects of our respective journeys. We choose exactly what kind of experience we want to have, stimulating exactly what senses we like. This is something that cannot be controlled or in fact chosen when visiting a cultural space where the conditions are pre-determined and controlled to the nth degree.
We should thus make the most of any cultural activity we are able to partake in and see this as an opportunity to create a new kind of experience, and one that can add to our understanding and appreciation of art and culture.
At the end of the day, if we have the opportunity to transform the digital experience into something that is meaningful and memorable, then I am all for it, even if it does mean adding that extra dose of imagination and creativity.
…the beauty of crafting ones own cultural experience at home is precisely that we are the architects of our respective journeys. We choose exactly what kind of experience we want to have, stimulating exactly what senses we like. This is something that cannot be controlled or in fact chosen when visiting a cultural space where the conditions are pre-determined and controlled to the nth degree.
We should thus make the most of any cultural activity we are able to partake in and see this as an opportunity to create a new kind of experience, and one that can add to our understanding and appreciation of art and culture.