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Panorama Big Sur
Please enjoy
this dynamic and
fascinating video with high definition footage, including actual film from
the Big Sur area and the
construction of Panorama Big Sur in Voorhout. |
Click on image to enlarge...Scroll left and
right
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Panorama Big Sur in Voorhout,
The Netherlands
The headline of a Dutch newspaper of February 17,
2007 reads; “AMERICAN PANORAMA COMING TO TULIPLAND. As of the beginning of
May, the city of Voorhout will be in California. Or rather, California is
coming to Voorhout." |
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Voorhout, a delightful little village in the heart of Holland’s famous
flower fields area will be home to my Panorama Big Sur for at least a
year. My team and I arrived in Voorhout at the end of March to set up
and build the enormous structure for the Panorama. At this time of year
the hyacinths, tulips, and narcissus are in full bloom. As far as the
eye can see, a sea of color combined with a dazzling aroma fills the
senses. Tourists from all over the world come to watch this spectacular
scene; even the Dutch people take some time out to see
out to see all this. |
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The
huge canvas was shipped from California to Voorhout via boat. It
arrived a few weeks earlier than we did so that it could acclimate.
Fortunately, the painting survived the journey minus a few insignificant
bumps and bruises. |
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A Family Affair…
The
construction of the Panorama with its darkened hallways, spiral
staircase, and viewing platform took six weeks to complete. Incredible
efforts were made by Thom Metcalf, my brother Simon, my son Rogér, and
my girlfriend Shelley to complete this whole project in such a record
time. I also would like to thank Jaap, Jeroen and Harry for a phenomenal
job well done. The faux terrain, the foreground of the painting,
consists of rocks and plants similar to the ones found in Big Sur.Styro-foam
was usedfor
rocks. After carving rocks out of this awesome
stuff,
they were |
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painted
the right color. To my delight and surprise, practically the entire
Balyon family was in the rock business instantaneously. |
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I
admit, I sometimes held my breath when seeing a bunch of eight and
twelve year-old children handling big knives. However, none of them lost
any fingers! From eight to eighty years old, my family members eagerly
stood ready to help me with whatever needed to be done. It indeed became
a “Family Affair”. Their names are too many to mention here, but they
were all awesome…. I could not have done this project without their
support! |
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One of
the most cherished and treasured rewards I received was when my eighty
year-old mother climbed a shaky ladder up onto the platform to see the
painting for the first time and softly said, “Your Father would have
been proud of you." |
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Here
are some of the moments captured in the making of Panorama Big Sur in
Voorhout
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The Panorama
Phenomenon
In 1785, the
Irish artist and painter Robert Barker by coincidence ‘invented’ the
panorama painting. History tells us that he ended up in an Edinburgh
prison because he was unable to pay his debts. Barker was bored in his
small cell, where only a vertical wall below a small opening in the
ceiling picked up any daylight. A sketch he made of a landscape on that
wall suddenly was transformed into a magical ‘show’. This gave him the
idea to light up his paintings in a similar fashion once out of prison. |
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Robert Barker
registered his Panorama idea in London, and listed all the principles
and features of an invention that would remain basically unchanged over
the years.
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The word
Panorama, derived from the Greek terms ‘pan’ and ‘rama’, literally means
‘see all’. It is a continuous circular representation hung on the walls
of a rotunda, specifically constructed to accommodate the canvas. The
painting has to be so true to life that it could be confused with
reality. The lighting source, emanated from the top, is concealed by a
roof or”vellum” that makes it impossible to see beyond the upper edge of
the canvas, while a ‘faux terrain’ (fake foreground) made with natural
objects masks the lower edge of the canvas. Visitors are purposely made
to feel confused in Panorama |
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buildings.
They are not supposed to notice how cleverly the incidence of light,
sound, and in the Panorama Big Sur setting even wind, contributes to the
illusion in space and time. |
Panorama Big
Sur
In
November 1997, after three years in the making, Thomas Metcalf, my
friend/artist and constructional engineer and I, unveiled “Panorama Big
Sur” in Carmel Valley, California. Many thousands of visitors have come
from all over the world to experience this 360-degree, almost 2000 sq.
feet oil painting that virtually drops the viewers into the setting
along the Big Sur Coastline of California, a 360-degree, 15 x 120 ft.
rendition of the coastline of Big Sur, California.
See Panorama Big Sur details.
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In April
2007, Panorama Big Sur was opened and exhibited in the Netherlands.
Included in the Panorama this time are the effects of a slight sea
breeze as well as original sound-recordings of breaking waves from the
spot where the painting was taken. In addition to all this, original
objects taken from the Big Sur location are part of the painting’s
foreground.
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I am thrilled
and honored to have my Panorama painting exhibited in my native country.
When I grew up in The Hague, I was enormously inspired by a 120 year old
Panorama that still exists in that city, called Panorama Mesdag. I knew
then, that someday I would paint something like that |
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Bringing
Panorama Big Sur to foreign destinations like Holland brings
certain predicaments along. For instance, ‘ice plant’, which grows
lavishly in the Big Sur area, and thus depicted in the painting, are not
indigenous to those countries. As a very important part of the total
setting, the plants have to be part of the ‘faux terrain’ as well. This
being the case, we resorting to replicas made to look exactly
like this particular plant, which are specially made for Panorama Big
Sur. |
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