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Understanding the adverse effects of two months of quarantine on our mental health is going to be a major topic of interest for psychologists and researchers in the coming months. As always, art experiences can provide a soothing balm in moments of crisis. While the performing arts have evolved new ways to connect with us and provide momentary respite from boredom, the contemplative bliss that is possible in the visual arts can rarely be simulated. That is why the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition is opening its doors to you this summer, while upholding the highest standards of social distancing by allocating 75 square feet per attendee.

As we’ve seen recently, the physical-health requirement of social distancing and the mental-health need to socialize can be a complicated balancing act. So to give the subject the necessary amount of nuance and cautious deliberation, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Melissa Meade, a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychology. Dr. Meade joins us to discuss some of the psychological effects of quarantine, as well as potential DIY remedies. With a background in fine arts, Dr. Meade speaks on the therapeutic value of art experiences during periods of isolation and stress. One of the remedies she discusses is the innovative HippoCamera app, developed in her lab, that combats various psychological ailments from memory loss to stress management. While her commentary does not encourage breaking current social distancing measures, she offers insight on how various art experiences, like the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition, can uplift our spirits after this unprecedented period of isolation.

MM: It’s really important to recognize how difficult and stressful it has been to respond to the major changes in daily life brought about by the pandemic. A number of researchers are concerned about increased stress, loneliness, anxiety, and depression symptoms, and the need for interventions to reduce the impact of these adverse effects of the lockdown (Holmes et al., The Lancet Psych, 2020). Specifically, we know that aspects of the lockdown such as social isolation (Read et al., 2020, J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci), increased boredom, and disrupted perception of time (‘blursday’), among others, have negative impacts on well-being and mental health.

However, there are things that we can do to enhance and maintain well-being moving forward as we continue to gradually transition out of lockdown. Our lab is currently conducting a study to examine the efficacy of an intervention to help improve well-being during periods of isolation, such as we are all experiencing now. We are testing an intervention that makes use of a smartphone application we have developed called the HippoCamera.

MM: It’s really important to recognize how difficult and stressful it has been to respond to the major changes in daily life brought about by the pandemic. A number of researchers are concerned about increased stress, loneliness, anxiety, and depression symptoms, and the need for interventions to reduce the impact of these adverse effects of the lockdown (Holmes et al., The Lancet Psych, 2020). Specifically, we know that aspects of the lockdown such as social isolation (Read et al., 2020, J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci), increased boredom, and disrupted perception of time (‘blursday’), among others, have negative impacts on well-being and mental health.

However, there are things that we can do to enhance and maintain well-being moving forward as we continue to gradually transition out of lockdown. Our lab is currently conducting a study to examine the efficacy of an intervention to help improve well-being during periods of isolation, such as we are all experiencing now. We are testing an intervention that makes use of a smartphone application we have developed called the HippoCamera.

This app mimics the function of the brain’s hippocampus to stabilize and retrieve memories, as well as encourage individuals to be cognitively and physically active. The app works by having users create video memory cues for daily events that are then replayed in a manner known to optimize learning and long-term retention. Research so far demonstrates that the HippoCamera improves memory and enhances brain activity when recalling events we have experienced. We’re now examining how Hippocamera use during the lockdown can provide immediate benefits to memory, mood, boredom, and reduce the feeling of the days all blurring together, as well as provide longer-term health benefits from reducing stress.

Part of the intervention involves having users try to engage in one unique activity each day that they record with the HippoCamera. Some of our suggested activities involve things like learning a new craft (such as knitting), going on a picnic, or trying out a new exercise like yoga. The expectation is that our intervention will enhance emotional well-being for those in lockdown by encouraging people to try out new, enjoyable activities. Additionally, we expect that enhancing memory for these unique events will reduce the uncomfortable disorientation of time we are all experiencing due to the monotony of our days in isolation. Ultimately, our goal is to validate and share an intervention that can provide widespread health and wellness benefits to many people living in isolation for the foreseeable future, as well as help those who typically live in relative isolation due to health or mobility issues.

MM: The arts provide a fantastic opportunity to enhance well-being at the moment. Doing something like visiting and appreciating a work of art allows one to engage in a unique event that distracts from the current stress and monotony of our lives. It’s really important to find ways to try to step outside of the stressful and anxious state many of us are in, given that chronic stress can adversely effect both mental and physical health. Additionally, unlike many other recreational activities, many forms of art can be enjoyed while adhering to safety regulations and guidelines.

Art also has the advantage of encouraging new ways of thinking and perceiving the world, as well as stirring an emotional response. The unique experiences that result from engaging with art are so important during this time. In fact this is the exact type of activity we are examining in our Hippocamera intervention; something novel that forces you out of your typical routine. We expect that incorporating activities that are unique, fun, and novel into our daily lives will provide huge benefits for our overall well-being. The Immersive Van Gogh Exhibition sounds like a fantastic opportunity for people to leave their current state of stress and enter a different, beautiful world, even if it is only for a short period of time.

Just over a year ago, a groundbreaking partnership between Starvox Entertainment (founded by Corey Ross) and Show One Productions (founded by Svetlana Dvoretsky) created Lighthouse Immersive to bring you the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit. The world has changed significantly since Corey and Svetlana combined their efforts to create a permanent arts space in downtown Toronto, but Lighthouse Immersive perseveres as one of the only exhibits in Canada working on opening its doors this summer (while meeting social distancing standards). As we get closer to the opening of the Drive-In experience on June 18th, Ross takes a moment to reflect on how the partnership came about, and share some candid thoughts on how the performing arts industry can be better positioned for the rest of the lockdown.

CR: The partnership with Show One Productions began about 15 years ago. A gentleman who was running the Toronto Arts Centre at the time introduced us. Svetlana was starting to do shows there and I had done a number of shows there as well, so that is how we originally met. Over the years we became close friends, occasionally we’d do a show together. Svetlana is a high-end producer, she does opera, classical music, and ballet; the type of work I was doing was in the more popular, pop-concerts, musical theatre side of things. So my line has been that whenever Svetlana could condescend to do something a bit more low-brow we’d do something together! The highlight was the John Malkovich show that we did about seven years ago. When she saw that we did so well with Banksy and heard about this Van Gogh Exhibit, she called me up and asked me if I’d be interested in partnering, and that was the seed of it.

CR: The first challenge is how do you create? Does your venue or museum — or however you display your art — lend itself to social distancing? What does that do to the capacity or space and is it financially viable? What impact has Covid had on most of the traditional exhibitors of art in Canada and internationally? How are non-for-profit organizations that depend on charitable giving going to cope in a market that has been hurt financially? Will investors be in a position to give as much as they have before?

Another challenge that they face is a Human Resources challenge: most of these organizations have had to lay off their people because they can’t afford to pay them right now while they’re closed. So will those people be interested in coming back and how quickly can they restart? The final challenge is that, from a ticket-sales perspective, the industry is pretty dependent on tourism. So if tourism isn’t what it was, then that is going to be a challenge. From an artistic perspective, the challenge really is for curators to get out and see art, which of course involves international travel, and artists need to get here and create things, so it depends on what the art is and how easy it is to travel.

CR: We’re at a pretty lucky position because we’re just a totally different type of concept in terms of how our art is exhibited. First of all, we’re in a huge venue —a 45,000 sq ft venue— there’s a lot of space for social distancing. We’re going to have financial challenges because our capacity is going to become lower as we accommodate social distancing. But we can extend the hours, as long as there are wage subsidies it becomes possible for us to extend the hours.

The way that you see the art, through giant projections on walls, also allows for social distancing. We can have lots of people socially distant enjoying this piece of art. Whereas if it was a 3 ft by 3 ft painting on the wall, only so many people can experience that at once while social distancing. Furthermore, we’re in a really unique position because there is a ramp at the door of our building and space for cars to drive in safely. So it’s allowed us to do this crazy idea of a drive-in show.

CR: Most arts organizations have laid off or reduced the salary of their arts workers, so we’re really happy that we haven’t had to do that, and that’s because we’re able to continue to present what we’re doing. I was recently on a committee of producers —my main business is theatre— so on the theatre side, there are discussions on what we can do to facilitate the recovery of the industry. People might not know but in the film and television business, when a producer hires an actor or technician to do a television show, there are tax credits to facilitate attracting productions to Canada and the production of Canadian content. In the theatre world, non-for-profit organizations like the Stratford Festival and the Shaw Festival receive grants but commercial theatre producers don’t receive tax credits similar to what commercial film and television producers have.

So David Mirvish and I are trying to engage the government in that discussion, and if we’re successful in that then I think the commercial theatre world in Toronto will be completely transformed. And we have a shot at coming out of Covid and becoming a worldwide center for production of shows. So I’m very excited about  that. It’s something that I thought for years should have been discussed. I don’t understand what the difference is, the same actors and technicians that are hired to do a film would receive tax-credits that they are not receiving when they’re doing theatre, even though theatre, from an economic development perspective, helps restaurants and everything around the theatre. So that’s something that I think is very cool and positive that could come out of this.

CR: There’s been zero talk because really we’re the only organization that’s opening its doors right now. There’s no talk about coming up with the measures that would make it safer to open our doors to the public, other than a vaccine. For instance, we have decided to do social distancing at the time when we do a walk-in version of our show — but we’re looking at other measures, including sensors that determine whether people are symptomatic when they come to the door. We’re also looking at how to sanitize the venue between shows, those measures are quite expensive and there’s been no funding allocated to that. There’s no one really available to ask. If I see a method of sanitation that they’re using in Israel or China or hospitals around the world, it’s not my area of expertise to decide which one is better and there is no one that the government is supplying as the person to ask what is appropriate and determine what is functional and what isn’t.

CR: First of all, the initial excitement to me was the intersection of technology and art. When I saw the show that Massimiliano Siccardi created in Paris, I really felt that I was seeing something completely new. A completely new way of looking at art, and a completely new way of looking at film. I just think that there are so many future possibilities with this type of immersive experience. It could be that the next Mission Impossible, instead of being just projected in front of you on a screen at a Cineplex theatre — an experience that you can now duplicate at home — you could enter a more experiential room where the narrative is being told in 360 degrees around you and you’re moving through physically. So it was an interesting opportunity for me to hook up with this creative team and be one of the first to bring it to North America and to be at the forefront of what I think is going to be a long-term exciting opportunity.

In terms of how Covid’s changed things, it’s kind of almost a torch bearing moment to be the last company carrying the last fire of culture and relighting it for the people of Toronto and Canada, and trying to find a place to do that. Again we were just really fortunate that we chose the kind of show where you could do that and the kind of venue where you could do that. I think 50% of it is luck and 50% of it is being to think innovatively and pivot to the times, and we were already doing something that was innovative in terms of a new type of art show. So we’re pushing the pocket of innovation by introducing cars into it, but it’s in the spirit of what the show was to begin with.

CR: On the arts side, I’m certainly interested in seeing how we can begin to bring and create new shows around other artists. We’re looking at other options already, whether it’s a more contemporary artist like Banksy in the same venue, or another historical artist altogether. But I’m also just interested, as I said, in the connection between filmmaking and the Immersive concept. The Lighthouse venue will be completely fitted out to do that. We don’t know what will happen with the Toronto International Film Festival, but I was looking forward to getting the filmmakers who would be coming into town for that to see what we’ve created for Van Gogh. I was hoping we’d be having really fruitful and creative discussions with filmmakers from all around the world that we could display the technology in Van Gogh for. What would, for example, Steven Spielberg be able to do with an Immersive concept? How could you repurpose the Hitchcock films with an Immersive concept? So it may be a real disappointment, or maybe TIFF still happens in some type of socially distanced form, only time will tell. There’s so much possibility around this, and it’s so different and fresh and we’re just so excited about it.