This is your mind on Dalí, in a VR world

“We think Dalí imagined a real place, and this painting was his way of expressing it,” says Roger Baran, a creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. He is referring to Salvador Dalí’s 1935 painting called Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus. Paying homage to this painting, the agency created an imaginative virtual-reality experience called Dreams of Dalí. It’s part of the new The Dalí Museum exhibition named Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination, which will open at the end of January.

Dreams of Dalí takes viewers inside the mind of the legendary surrealist, Salvador Dalí and brings to life the landscape of his paintings.

In this deeply affecting and surreal experience you can go inside Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus to explore the world of the surrealist master. An immersive 3D environment allows you to move around inside the painting.

“Dalí called his paintings ‘dream photographs,’ demonstrating his love of the dream world and exacting images,” stated Hank Hine, director of The Dalí Museum.

“Dreams of Dalí honors the artist and gives us access to his remarkable imagination in an ecstatic way.” Through this window, you can look beyond the areas depicted on the canvas, explore the elements of the painting and other works. For example, you can get to know other famous elements of Dalí’s work — such as his often-recurring elephants, birds and ants. Further, you can listen to what could have been the artist’s thoughts in his own voice.

As you navigate the world of the painting, you can venture into the high towers, peer from the towers onto distant lands, and discover surprises around every corner — in a way the makers only imagine Dalí may have dreamed up.

The Dalí Museum is located in St. Petersburg, Florida. It features more than 2,000 works comprising nearly 100 oil paintings; over 100 watercolors and drawings; and 1,300 prints, photographs, sculptures, and objets d’art. If you can’t make it to Florida to see the captivating work, it’s also possible to experience it using your phone. The video can be accessed in virtual reality with simpler VR gadgets like Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR. The online version of the experience brings a 360 video for desktops and mobile devices.

Sam Luchini, a creative director on the project, says, “We used today’s technology to reveal how the world Dalí imagined and created more than 80 years ago would look like if it existed.” Months of research was required to bring the scenario to life in a way that’s imaginatively as close to what Dalí might have seen in his mind before he began the painting.

Indeed an homage to the legendary and enigmatic artist, this virtual-reality experience opens doors to what the artist imagined, showcases hidden memories, explores recurring subjects of his work and their significance as it brings Dalí’s dreamscape to life.

Disney and Dalí: Architects of the Imagination | Archeological Reminiscence of Millet’s Angelus

Originally published at www.psfk.com on January 26, 2016.