Sep 24, 2018 7:42 PM

The Rise of the Made-for-Instagram Museum

Art in the age of the selfie.

01
THE MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM ISN’T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS
WHEN THE MUSEUM of Ice Cream opened its millennial pink doors in New York in 2016, it was a temporary curiosity—and far from a rival to the Whitney Museum of American Art, located just across the street.
02
EVERYBODY’S DOING IT
One year and three cities later, the Museum of Ice Cream has graduated to cult status on Instagram. It’s a veritable selfie factory: people pay to enter with the express purpose of taking photos for social media. More than 241,000 people follow its page, and countless more have posted their own photos from within the space.

03
EXPERIENCE OVER PICTURES
Maryellis Bunn, one of the museum’s founders, denies that Instagram played a significant role in how she shaped the museum. “I don't think that social is what is driving what the Museum of Ice Cream does,” she says. Yet it’s hard to walk through the space and imagine it as anything but a series of Instagram backdrops.
04
A RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT ‘GRAM
So while the goal of the Museum of Ice Cream may be bigger than Instagram alone, there is no denying that social media plays a major role in its success: Go for the pictures, stay for the sprinkles, and share for the likes.

05
SELFIE FACTORIES GALORE
And in the wake of its success has come a spate similar installations. Half a mile from the Museum of Ice Cream, you can find the Color Factory, a 12,000-square foot space containing 15 interactive color “experiences.” In one room, a menagerie of cheese puffs, goldfish, and measuring levels create an orange tableau.
06
COLOR OVERLOAD
In another, a bright yellow ball pit invites visitors to jump in and play. Perhaps most iconic, there’s the confetti room, where tiny squares of colorful paper blanket the room like fresh snow.

07
IT’S LIT
In designing the Color Factory, Jordan Ferney knew each room had to look just as good in photos as it did in person. It had to be fun to visit, too, but if you didn't like the photos you took there, then what was the point? “There were a few decisions we had to make,” she says. “Like, even with the lighting, where maybe a warmer light would have felt better to be there but a whiter light looks better on Instagram.”
08
IS IT EVEN ART?
With the rise of these selfie factories, the line between art and Instagram filler has blurred—especially for those without a knowledge of art history. What separates an all-purple room in Ferney’s Color Factory from monochromatic avant-garde paintings like Ad Reinhardt's series of square, black canvases?

11
BUT WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
Maybe the question is not whether these spaces contain art, or even what their relationship to social media says at all, but instead: What do we get out of these spaces? One look at the Museum of Ice Cream’s Yelp page, where it scored 3 out of 5 stars, may tell us all we need to know about these spaces: “Personally, I would save my money and just enjoy the pictures online.”

Arielle Pardes was formerly a senior writer at WIRED, where she worked on stories about our relationship to our technology. Previously she was a senior editor for VICE.

Senior Writer

Topicsart Instagram AMP Stories

THE MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM ISN’T WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

EVERYBODY’S DOING IT

EXPERIENCE OVER PICTURES

A RECIPE FOR THE PERFECT ‘GRAM

SELFIE FACTORIES GALORE

COLOR OVERLOAD

IT’S LIT

IS IT EVEN ART?

BUT WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?