We have a new reason for calling Paris the City of Light—the dazzling Atelier des Lumieres.  

The spanking new digital art museum located in a historic factory in the 11th arr explodes with light, images and sound giving new meaning to the ages old Paris designation.  

Talk of the Town

Described by one Parisian blogger as “the talk of the town” this installation is nothing like the sound and light shows of yesterday.  It’s a whole new world. 

Entering the 19th century foundry behind slabs of concrete we were greeted with the impact of 140 laser video projectors casting moving images on some 3,300 square meters of surface including the floor.  

Accompanying the mesmerizing digital art display is a sound track featuring pieces by Beethoven, Chopin and Wagner

WOW

It was like Wow.  

We went on a Sunday morning in September and while there were a couple hundred people in the space, all were quiet and respectful.  It was almost a spiritual experience while the music surrounded us and the art ebbed and flowed on the walls and floors of the cavernous space.  

Depicting the world and career of Gustav Klimt,  the show made me feel like I was inside  the gold leaf world of this well known Austrian artist.    It was truly an explosion of technology and color while linking the past and the future.  

Even the floor changed.  One minute the floor of this high tech immersion experience was a carpet of flowers; the next a swirling geometric pattern.  With 360 degrees of  stimulation I often didn’t know where to look during the 50 minute presentation.  Or point my camera.  

Future of Art Exhibitions

The Atelier des Lumières is the brain child of a private Museum Management company called Culturespace.  According the company’s president, Bruno Monnier, “Sensor based digital art experiences represent the future of art exhibitions.  The passive observation works of art are no longer relevant.”  

Whether you believe that or not, the experience was truly memorable.  Monnier describes it as a “Pictorial bath” and I think that’s a good way to say it.  What a wonderful way to discover art work.  

  I’d go back in a heart beat and look forward to something similar in the U.S.  Already there are digital art museums in Finland and Japan. Another is in the planning stage in South Korea.  

Following are images I captured during our Atelier des Lumieres experience.  If you are going to Paris between now and the end of the year I suggest hoping on line and getting tickets to see this.  I posted the link below.  

The web site is:https://www.atelier-lumieres.com