Improve the interactivity of your classical art museum: for each painting, add hidden elements that can only be seen by shining ultraviolet light onto the painting.

The Issue:

Art museums have their merits, but they are rarely described as “interactive.” For a large percentage of the population, visiting an art museum is suspiciously similar to just viewing a tour on YouTube or seeing the same works in a printed book.

Fig. 1: Be honest: if you saw these same masterpieces hanging on a museum wall, would it REALLY be that different from seeing them on a screen?

Proposal:

There’s a way to make the art viewing experience more interactive and bring a sort of “hidden occult mystery” element to even the most boring pieces: simply commission some new paintings where certain details of the painting are only visible under UV light, then issue UV flashlights to museum-goers.

A painting that has gotten this “UV mystery” treatment will provide an initial impression to the viewer, and then a second “surprise” impression (Figure 2) as the viewer shines their UV flashlight across the canvas. How delightful!

Fig. 2: Thanks to the UV flashlight, we can now see the strange and esoteric symbolism (drawn in so-called “invisible“ ink) that was not initially visible to the naked eye.

Conclusion:

This could make art museums interesting for a wider range of people, and could open up a new genre of “paintings with a surprising twist.” Is it possible that this has really never been done before?

PROS: Opens up a new genre of semi-interactive art! May entice younger audiences into the decadent and depraved world of Fine Art.

CONS: Children might scorch each others’ eyeballs with UV laser beams if the flashlights are too powerful, so it’s important to be mindful of the flashlight wattage.

Originally published 2026-06-22.