At last, a cultural institution that allows New Yorkers to explore human emotion.
If the Museum of Food & Drink wasn't offbeat enough, New Yorkers now have another quirky museum to explore. The Museum of Feelings pop-up sponsored by the scent manufacturer Glade opened in Brookfield Place in lower Manhattan yesterday and its exterior changes color depending on New York’s mercurial state of mind.
The museum’s façade is linked to social media sites and incorporates data extracted from local news and trends, including the weather report, fluctuations in the stock exchange, and even flight delays. All that data is in turn gets translated into feelings, those feelings into color, which is reflected onto the museum’s exterior. Yep, it’s a giant mood ring for the city that never sleeps.
Inside, the pop-up museum installations take visitors on a sensory exploration through five galleries, or “experience zones” where they're invited to toy with their emotions through touch, sound, imagination, and scent. The trippy rooms include a jungle of green LED vines reflecting on a mirrored floor below that seems like something Yayoi Kusama might dream up. A glowing violet room with cushy carpet is reminiscent of James Turrell's installation at the Guggenheim. Each room has a Glade scent piped through in the hopes that linking the smells to an experience will create an association between the scent and a memorable experience.
Visitors are invited to share their emotions by way of selfies taken inside a kaleidoscope "controlled by feelings." Guests can also create a MoodLens, which uses individual biometric data like Galvanic Skin Response, the weather, and your pulse rate, to create an “emotional selfie.” You can try it out online, too. While the museum may be just a clever marketing stunt, the upside is it's free to visit and provides anyone who happens to find him or herself in the Financial District with a fun, quick break during the day.
The Museum of Feelings pop-up will be on view and free to visit until December 15, 2015.
