Selfie museum

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A scratch and sniff wall at the Color Factory.
Visitors pose in a pool of oversize sprinkles at the Museum of Ice Cream.

A "selfie museum" or "Instagram museum" is a type of art gallery or installation designed to provide a setting for visitors to pose in photographs to be posted on social media sites such as Instagram. Typical features of exhibits in a selfie museum include colorful backdrops, oversize props, and optical illusions such as anamorphosis.

29Rooms, a three-day immersive art installation created by Refinery29 in 2015 in New York City, has been cited as the first example of this type of facility.[1][2] The Museum of Ice Cream, opened in 2016, is also credited as a major catalyst of selfie museums.[3][4][5] By 2019, there were reportedly dozens of selfie museums across the United States.[6] They faced challenges in 2020 when most were forced to close temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7][8]

Some predecessors to this trend from the contemporary art world have been identified, such as Rain Room, Urban Light, and the mirrored rooms of Yayoi Kusama.[9][10] The large-scale experimental artworks exhibited at the Burning Man festival have also been cited as an influence, as well as the artist collective Meow Wolf.[11]

Some commentators have criticized the use of the word "museum" to describe these establishments.[12][13] Unlike traditional museums, which are often non-profit organizations with an educational mission, selfie museums are almost always for-profit businesses, earning money through admission fees and, in some cases, corporate sponsorships.[14][15] Museum of Ice Cream founder Maryellis Bunn has expressed regret over using the word, and coined the term "experium" (a portmanteau of "experience" and "museum") to describe such businesses.[16]

Selfie museums are an example of experiential commerce. Many are pop-up exhibitions, opening for only a few months in a particular location, while others are permanent.[17][18]

Notable examples[]

References[]

  1. ^ Aileen Kwun (January 11, 2018). "Exploring the effects of social media on art and culture, one selfie at a time". CNN. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  2. ^ Caroline Goldstein (April 25, 2018). "8 Instagram-ready art attractions that prove the Museum of Ice Cream was just the beginning". ArtNet. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  3. ^ Sophie Haigney (September 16, 2018). "The museums of Instagram". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  4. ^ Sam Eichner (August 27, 2018). "Lights, cameras, action: The rise of the Instagram-friendly museum". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  5. ^ Katherine Keener (January 4, 2019). "The rise and impact of the 'Instagram museum'". Art Critique. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  6. ^ Annie Taylor (September 4, 2019). "Selfie museums are popping up across the country". WTXL-TV. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  7. ^ Katie Way (August 7, 2020). "There's not much left to like about Instagram-friendly 'experiences'". Vice. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. ^ Ashley Carman (April 1, 2020). "Instagram pop-up experiences lay off employees as the business tanks". The Verge. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. ^ Sarah Cascone (March 26, 2018). "An Instagram-baiting museum in Indonesia is ripping off Chris Burden and Yayoi Kusama". Artnet News. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  10. ^ Arielle Pardes (September 27, 2017). "Selfie factories: The rise of the made-for-Instagram museum". Wired. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  11. ^ Ben Ikenson (December 4, 2018). "'Big Fun Art' spreads to Phoenix". Bloomberg CityLab. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  12. ^ Lara Korte (July 5, 2018). "Pop-up 'museums' are Instagram fans' favorite place to pose". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2020-09-02. (subscription required)
  13. ^ Marissa G. Muller (December 26, 2017). "From Yayoi Kusama to the Museum of Ice Cream, 2017 was the year of the art selfie". W. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  14. ^ Karen Loew (October 16, 2019). "Why do Instagram playgrounds keep calling themselves museums?". Bloomberg CityLab. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  15. ^ Erin DeJesus (December 21, 2018). "Fake food museums are our greatest monuments to the brand hellscape of 2018". Eater. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  16. ^ Sissi Cao (October 9, 2019). "Everything you think you know about the Museum of Ice Cream is wrong: Interview with CEO". Observer. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  17. ^ Amanda Hess (September 26, 2018). "The existential void of the pop-up 'experience'". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  18. ^ Caroline Cunningham (January 29, 2020). "Wonderspaces isn't another pop-up "experience." That's a good thing". Philadelphia. Retrieved 2020-09-02.

Further reading[]

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