The Instagram Museum
A new “museum” set designed to be reproduced on Instagram as much as it is enjoyed in real life
If you have ever heard of an installation like the Rain Room, Wonder, or the Infinity Mirrored Room, you know that social media can play an essential role in how we experience and interact with art. Some creative entrepreneurs are flipping the script with a new category of installations made to translate well on social media.
When The Museum of Ice Cream opened in New York in 2016, 300,000 tickets were sold out within 5 days of opening at $18 apiece. At its San Francisco location in 2017, admission went up to $38 and the entire six-month run sold out in less than 90 minutes. Visitors flocked to the “museum” for ice cream cones hung from the ceiling, a giant ice cream sandwich swing, a sprinkle pool, and most importantly, Instagram backdrops. Countless visitors have posted their photos from within the space: there are over 143,000 images hashtagged with #museumoficecream (as a reference, #whitneymuseum has 200,000 posts). A few steps away, Color Factory is a 12,000-square-foot space containing 15 unique “color experiences”, including bright yellow ball pit and a confetti room.
Is it art? What do people get out of these experiences in addition to Instagram posts? “I’m not going to be the one to say it’s art,” says Jordan Ferney, creator of the Color Factory, “ [but]we brought on a lot of talented artists to work on this.”
Sources: Wired (September 17, 2017) | Image: Laura Pittaccio