Step inside a painting: Largest digital art experience in US opens in New York City
LOWER MANAHTTAN (WABC) -- New York City's art world is already among the best in the world and now it will take another step forward with the opening of the largest digital arts experience in the country.
This week's opening includes an immersive, interactive component that will awake visitors' senses.
"When you're in a museum you can be intimidated, it's almost a two-way experience, you're looking at something and everybody seeing the same thing," said general manager of Hall des Lumieres Pierre Battu. "You will feel emotion, yesterday somebody came to me and said 'I cried.'"
It took three years to transform the more than 100-year-old landmark on Chambers Street.
Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank is now Hall des Lumieres.
It is a permanent art center, a more than 30,000-square-foot space where works from highly acclaimed artists will be featured every 10 to 12 months.
The inaugural exhibition, Gustav Klimt: Gold in Motion, uses more than 130 video projectors. The end result makes the viewer feel like they are inside a piece of art.
"Every surface is covered and what you will see, it's very interesting, there's almost no shadows," Battu said.
On the lower level is the actual bank vault that has been transformed into an infinity room. Every inch is covered with mirrors and where yet another dynamic film plays out.
"It's almost like being in a Hollywood movie, where technology highlights the future," Battu said.
The future is bright for the one-of-a-kind project where video mapping brilliantly showcases the architecture.
The film runs one hour and is on a loop -- so visitors can take their time to take it all in.
Hall des Lumires is open seven days a week and ticket prices start at $30 for adults. Special prices are also available for seniors (65+), youths (ages 5-16), members of the military and college students, while children under 5 are free.
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