14 June 2021
A few days ago, I got a call from Michel asking if I wanted to go see Lasting Impressions, an immersive art experience. I decided I would do anything to get out of the house and immediately agreed. I didn’t know anything about it but was thinking it might be somewhat akin to the new Van Gogh experience called Beyond Van Gogh where you walk into rooms with the room surrounded by one of Van Gough’s paintings.
Nancy and Michel picked me up at 11:30 am on Saturday and we headed down to Miami to the Arsht Center. It has been a while (over a year) that I’ve been to the Arsht Center and the first problem was the usual exit had been changed due to a new by pass being constructed over I-95. After a couple of wrong turns due to my inadequate directions, we finally found a place to park and made our way to the Ziff Ballet and Opera House of the Arsht complex.
On the way down, Michel tells us it is a 3D experience and we’ll be provided glasses. I hate to admit it but I thought back to those 3D glasses we used as kids with the cardboard red and blue tinted films. I have to admit I started having second thoughts.
As we approached the entrance to Ziff, we were immediately challenged to scan a QR code with our phones before entering the building. QR codes, when they first came out, were not too well utilized. Now they are everywhere. Once you scanned the code you then were directed to a web page that asked you to fill out a health questionnaire about your exposure to Covid and whether or not you had the vaccine.
Once you submitted the questionnaire another page popped up on your phone that directed you to show this to the next person checking people in. Then and only then were you were allowed to enter the building and pass through security.
We were next directed up stairs to the bar area to wait for our performance to begin. We decided we wanted some water. You didn’t order at the bar. You were asked to go to a table widely separated from others. Another QR code was on the table. You scanned that for the menu.
I chose 3 waters and then was asked for credit card information. It was a “no cash” zone. The waters were delivered to our table. Easy peasy!
While waiting for our waters, I noticed a large screen with a projected impressionist painting. We saw one of the employees taking photos of people in front of it. We decided to give it a try and we met Claudia who proceeded to arrange us so that we looked to be a part of the scene.
Claudia insisted we come back after the performance and have our photo taken with the second projected painting.
Five minutes before the performance was to start, an usher took everyone down the stairs and we started weaving our way back into the bowels of the Ziff. On the way we picked up some 3D glasses that were definitely a cut above those I wore as a kid. Our route was confusing until we opened up into a large room with chairs in pairs widely separated from other pairs of chairs.
When I turned around, I noticed what looked like an image of the interior of the opera house. It was not an image – it was the opera house. We were seated on the stage of the Ziff Opera House! I’ve been backstage at the San Francisco Opera House but not the Ziff until Saturday.
We chose our seats and one of the ushers immediately came up and suggested we were on the very edge and there were better seats elsewhere. He immediately escorted us to better seats. We were also able to move one chair of the pair over to another pair so we three could sit together.
The program started with an introduction on the origin and history of impressionism and then we were treated to the works of 15 of the worlds most important impressionists. The sequence of artists was Gustave Caillebotte, Paul Cézanne, Edgar Degas, Henri Fantin-Latour, Paul Gaugin, Edouard Manet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Jean Francois Raffaelli, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Henri Rousseau, Georges Seurat, Alfred Sisley, and last but definitely not least, Vincent Van Gogh. To see the program, click here.
It was extremely well done and timed down to the second with appropriate music. When we got to Degas’ ballerinas, they seemed to come out into the audience. The special effects people even had their tutus rustle with movement.
Some of the scenes from the French countryside were especially interesting because they had leaves blow from the trees out into the audience. When Monet’s Water Lilies came up, it was like you were in a boat traveling through the water. In another Monet, you seemingly floated under a bridge in the painting.
I would say at least 25 percent of the program was given over to Van Gogh. They even played Don McLean’s “Starry, Starry Night.”
I have to admit I was impressed. It was not perfect and there was some art that didn’t lend itself to 3D and some of the motions were very jerky. However, I can see where this is going to be a great hit. It was the world premier of the show – that’s the kind of offerings you can get in Miami and no where else.
We returned to the bar area and Claudia photograph us in front of the other projected painting.
Once we left Claudia, we headed to Verde Restaurant at the Perez Art Museum Miami. It’s one of my favorite places to eat in Miami, both for the food and for the view.
Again with the QR codes. Everything was done with scanning the codes. They also didn’t accept cash in any form. It was all done via credit cards. I have to admit I’ve never seen the museum and restaurant so crowded. The parking garage was labeled as full but we cruised the garage long enough to find an empty space. Everyone is desperate to get out of the house. Everyone was pretty good about wearing masks, even outdoors.
It was great to get out and about. I asked Michel, who is even more cautious than me, if she felt comfortable at the performance and at the restaurant and she agreed she was. Everything was handled with Covid in mind and people were easily going along with it.
Sounds as if you all had an enjoyable experience. Thanks for an interesting description.