Story and photos by Thomas Iacobucci
There is a sharp contrast between the Dalí museum’s white walls and the dark hues of blue and black that hide the mysteries of what lie beyond the newest exhibit’s doors.
The few lights amidst the darkness spin shadows and reflections onto the walls and the adjacent floor.
Etched on the wall outside, parallel to the permanent collection at The Dalí museum, are the words “Visual Magic: Dalí’s Masterworks in Augmented Reality.”
Inside, an island — erected in the middle of the room and spanning across most of the exhibit — sits two feet above everything else, allowing guests to have a full visceral, surreal experience.
The exhibit is unlike any endeavor The Dalí museum has tackled since opening its new doors in 2011.
Allowing guests to fully immerse themselves, “Visual Magic: Dalí’s Masterworks in Augmented Reality” highlights The Dalí’s collection of its most popular masterworks – paintings that exceed over five feet in height or width and that took over a year to paint – by the Spanish painter.
“The masterworks that we have in the exhibit are the actual, authentic Dalí masterworks he painted and not copied images,” said Maxwell Hague, a membership and services coordinator at the museum.
With the exhibit housing eight original masterworks, the most of any collection within the world, the augmented reality technology gives each visitor a new way to engage with the real images Salvador Dalí painted.
Using a mobile device or tablet, visitors can download The Dalí Museum app and simply point their cameras at one of the masterworks.
From there, each painting explodes to life through your screen, highlighting the intricacies and surreal imagery that are prevalent in Dalí’s work.
Each of the eight pieces begins with an animated short, giving the feeling that the viewer is stepping through a portal and entering the painting.
When experiencing the AR of “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,” one of Dalí’s eight masterpieces, the sights and sounds emitting from your phone transport you directly into the painting.
A ship appears through the mist when the sequence begins. A banner that bares a depiction of Gala, Dalí’s wife and muse, in a Madonna-like state flutters in the virtual wind as the moving mist over the sea in the background floats to the left.
As each animation concludes, distinct pieces within the image become highlighted, offering the viewer a chance to further explore the deep imagery that might have been originally lost when first looking at the painting.
After clicking on the highlighted pieces, a voice erupts from the device and further explains the complexities behind each of the small details Dalí worked in.
Museumgoers will become lost as they navigate from one masterwork to the next. “The Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus,” stands at 14 feet tall and 9 feet wide, though it’s hardly noticeable, as each visitor will be engrossed in their small screens that display so much more.
This exhibit essentially allows museumgoers the chance to revisit Dalí’s most cherished paintings, exploring the life and work of the surreal artist through this emerging technology.
As one of the few museums in the country that offers an augmented reality experience, The Dalí museum adds to an already extensive list of technological advancements that include virtual reality and artificial intelligence experiences.
For more information on the exhibit, visit thedali.org or download The Dalí Museum app.
Admission is free for USF St. Petersburg students with a valid student I.D.
The exhibit will run until Nov. 3.
“Visual Magic: Dalí’s Masterworks in Augmented Reality” runs until November 3, 2019 and is free for all USF St. Petersburg students with a valid student I.D. 
A museumgoer at The Dalí holds their smartphone up to “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln” in order to experience the museum’s new augmented reality within their masterwork collection. 
The silhouette of a museumgoer melts away into Dalí’s “Galacidalacidesoxiribunucleicacid,” one of the eight masterwork paintings in housed in the exhibit. 
An island — erected in the middle of the room and spanning across most of the exhibit — sits 2 feet above everything else, allowing guests to have a full visceral, surreal experience of the masterworks in augmented reality. 
Visitors that wish to immerse themselves in the augmented reality simply download The Dalí Museum app and point their camera at one of the eight masterworks on display. 
The silhouette of a museumgoer melts away into Dalí’s “Galacidalacidesoxiribunucleicacid,” blurring the lines of reality for all in the exhibit. 
The few lights amidst the darkness spin shadows and reflections onto the walls and the adjacent floor as visitors seemingly blend into the background. 
“Visual Magic: Dalí’s Masterworks in Augmented Reality” highlights The Dalí’s collection of its most popular masterworks – paintings that exceed over 5 feet in height or width and that took over a year to paint – by the Spanish painter in a new immersive experience for visitors. 
A visitor at The Dalí stands and contemplates “Gala Contemplating the Mediterranean Sea which at Twenty Meters Becomes the Portrait of Abraham Lincoln.”
