Trip Date: September, 2022
On a day in which I was feeling particularly art-deprived a few weeks ago, I decided to check out the Olympic Sculpture Park and Seattle Art Museum while I was still living downtown. The sculpture park was around a 20-minute walk from my apartment, and I chose to take a route through Pike Place Market from the park to the museum. Galleries from the sculpture park and market will come in the following weeks, but for today, this VR gallery will focus on the Seattle Art Museum (SAM).
I got lucky and seemed to hit the museum on a day and time in which barely anyone else was there. Taking VR 180 photographs captures everything in front of the camera, and can often include unwanted objects or people to the sides, but catching a less busy day means that this VR gallery can provide the experience of being in the museum almost alone.
The main sections of the museum that are covered in this gallery are listed on the museum website as Australian Aboriginal art (in the form of “dot paintings”), visually arresting Native American sculptures and paintings, Modern and Contemporary art such as Mann Und Maus – a large sculpture of a mouse sitting on a bed that dominates the room it’s in, Lessons from the Institute of Empathy, and African Art, including masks and headdresses. A favourite exhibition for me was Lessons from the Institute of Empathy – where the narrative spins an almost sci-fi/dystopian tale and the pieces include influences from African art and modern digital projection methods.
The VR gallery below contains 41 images. Please enjoy the immersive experience, and if you don’t have a headset, you can still view the images on a mobile or in the browser which will still allow you to pan 180 degrees:
