On the occasion of its 20th anniversary in 2023, Kitchener, Ontario’s THEMUSEUM unveiled EYEPOOL, a permanent digital gallery that uses projection technology to take visitors on immersive, interactive audiovisual journeys.
AV Technology sat down with David Marskell, Chief Executive Officer of THEMUSEUM to discuss how a partnership with Christie helped transform the not-for-profit into one of Canada’s premier destinations for cutting-edge immersive digital art, and how other museums can leverage similar exhibitions to attract and connect with today’s increasingly social media-oriented audience.
Making the Impossible, Possible
Playing on its origins as a children’s museum, THEMUSEUM produced the wildly successful SPECTRUM—a series of colorful installations, including an all-green adult ball pit—in the year leading up to the pandemic. Throughout 2020, even amid widespread closures and uncertainty, Marskell and his team were already hard at work planning for how they could take SPECTRUM to the next level with EYEPOOL.
Marskell emphasized that from the outset, a longstanding relationship with Christie made their choice of a manufacturing partner simple. “Even if I lived in another country, this would be the company I would start with. We said, ‘Here's a raw space. What do we need to do?’” He continued, “And they guided us very professionally to ensure that the end result was a success. They helped us understand their product, allowed us to choose the right projectors, and helped us in terms of installation.”
The result of this partnership has been a fully engrossing experience for all “stages of life,” as Marskell put it. “At just under 1,000 square feet with 14 projectors on the ceiling, the four walls and floor are all in play. And it's interactive, so you can touch the wall and it ripples,” he said. “The particular content we have in there now is called IMPOSSIBLE GEOMETRIES. It has 10 approximately two-minute experiences that rotate through and they’re… the common word is trippy. It's just so much fun.”
Immersive, Instagrammable Art
Marskell emphasized the importance of keeping a finger on the pulse of what art audiences are interested in, and for THEMUSEUM, that means immersive and Instagrammable. “It’s the future—no question about it,” he said. “It’s what younger demographics want. People need to not just get ahead of it, but they already need to catch up, because if it's starting to happen with an organization our size in little Kitchener, then it's going to explode elsewhere.”
Creating an experience that lends itself to social media posting has many benefits, including reducing marketing expenses. “Everybody that comes through is telling their friends about it,” Marskell said. “Based on the research we do, the word-of-mouth awareness is quite high.”
After understanding your audience and selecting the right technology for your space, Marskell said that the final piece of the puzzle is, of course, content—but that doesn’t come cheap. “If somebody wants to do this, they need to also be mindful that content is not inexpensive. Artists create it and it's something that is growing quickly.” He continued, “Working with digital artists, in our case, is the right way to go in terms of collaboration with our own community.”
That intentional collaboration has made EYEPOOL into THEMUSEUM’s star attraction. “Of the people that come in, it's the number one thing generating interest,” Marskell said. “I suspect that there’s a fairly high awareness level even if they don't really know what it is. They're starting to hear the word EYEPOOL in a positive way. It's coming across their Instagram feed or their social media feed.”
A Resounding Success
The team at THEMUSEUM chose Christie’s Inspire Series 1DLP® laser projectors. “The Inspire Series projectors deliver the image size, brightness, and quality that THEMUSEUM required for EYEPOOL, and the fixed short-throw lenses enable projection on the floor, given the ceiling height in their space,” Joe Mercier, senior sales manager, Central Canada, Christie said. “The 9,600-lumen DWU960ST-iS includes built-in Christie Twist for warping and blending, ensuring a seamless canvas for content throughout the gallery.”
When asked about the risk involved in creating an interactive digital gallery during COVID-19, Marskell recalls being unfazed. “I knew the pandemic would end at some point,” he said. “And I didn't want to build something and be sorry that, ‘Oh, we should have taken it to the next level.’ We went all in right from the beginning.”
That patience and technological investment has paid off in a big way. Marskell said, “A year ago we saw the glimmer of hope and people starting to come back—in our case young adults. Right now, families are doing that same thing in large numbers. They’re coming back like somebody's turned on the tap.” He continued, “I believe what museums and audiences of today want aligns very well with what Christie offers, and it's been working for us.”
