Selfie museum

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. ^ Kwun, Aileen (January 11, 2018). "Exploring the effects of social media on art and culture, one selfie at a time". CNN. Archived from the original on 2020-10-31. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  2. ^ Goldstein, Caroline (April 25, 2018). "8 Instagram-ready art attractions that prove the Museum of Ice Cream was just the beginning". ArtNet. Archived from the original on 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  3. ^ Haigney, Sophie (September 16, 2018). "The museums of Instagram". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2020-09-29. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  4. ^ Eichner, Sam (August 27, 2018). "Lights, cameras, action: The Museum of Selfies was another original example of the Selfie Museum as it opened first as a pop-up in 2017. It was the first Museum to use the term "Museum of Selfies". The Museum of Selfies was first opened in Glendale, California for 3 months which then turned into a permanent location in Hollywood, California. After the closures of March 2020, the Museum of Selfies was closed in the Hollywood location and opened back up the next year in Las Vegas, Nevada.The rise of the Instagram-friendly museum". The Daily Beast. Archived from the original on 2020-08-07. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  5. ^ Keener, Katherine (January 4, 2019). "The rise and impact of the 'Instagram museum'". Art Critique. Archived from the original on 2020-10-24. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  6. ^ Taylor, Annie (September 4, 2019). "Selfie museums are popping up across the country". WTXL-TV. Archived from the original on 2021-06-11. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  7. ^ Way, Katie (August 7, 2020). "There's not much left to like about Instagram-friendly 'experiences'". Vice. Archived from the original on 2025-05-13. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  8. ^ Carman, Ashley (April 1, 2020). "Instagram pop-up experiences lay off employees as the business tanks". The Verge. Archived from the original on 2020-12-14. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  9. ^ Cascone, Sarah (March 26, 2018). "An Instagram-baiting museum in Indonesia is ripping off Chris Burden and Yayoi Kusama". Artnet News. Archived from the original on 2020-10-01. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  10. ^ Pardes, Arielle (September 27, 2017). "Selfie factories: The rise of the made-for-Instagram museum". Wired. Archived from the original on 2020-09-12. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  11. ^ Ikenson, Ben (December 4, 2018). "'Big Fun Art' spreads to Phoenix". Bloomberg CityLab. Archived from the original on 2020-11-04. Retrieved 2020-10-31.
  12. ^ Korte, Lara (July 5, 2018). "Pop-up 'museums' are Instagram fans' favorite place to pose". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2020-09-02. (subscription required)
  13. ^ Muller, Marissa G. (December 26, 2017). "From Yayoi Kusama to the Museum of Ice Cream, 2017 was the year of the art selfie". W. Archived from the original on 2019-12-08. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  14. ^ Loew, Karen (October 16, 2019). "Why do Instagram playgrounds keep calling themselves museums?". Bloomberg CityLab. Archived from the original on 2021-05-13. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  15. ^ DeJesus, Erin (December 21, 2018). "Fake food museums are our greatest monuments to the brand hellscape of 2018". Eater. Archived from the original on 2020-11-12. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  16. ^ Cao, Sissi (October 9, 2019). "Everything you think you know about the Museum of Ice Cream is wrong: Interview with CEO". Observer. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  17. ^ Hess, Amanda (September 26, 2018). "The existential void of the pop-up 'experience'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 2020-08-29. Retrieved 2020-09-02.
  18. ^ Cunningham, Caroline (January 29, 2020). "Wonderspaces isn't another pop-up "experience." That's a good thing". Philadelphia. Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2020-09-02.

Further reading

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