Doing it for the ’gram
Instagram economy is taking over Toronto
Does fun exist anymore if it doesn’t end up on Instagram?
From the permanent to the pop-up, from mirrored rooms to rainbow-coloured junk food, Toronto is in the midst of a wave of attractions tailor-made for selfie seekers. Even bars and restaurants, and public art, are frequently made with social media in mind.
The newest contender providing a great backdrop for your next snapshot (or Snapchat) is the Museum of Illusions, opening Nov. 7, just steps away from St. Lawrence Market, part of a global franchise that started in Croatia three years ago. Micheala Radman, owner of the Toronto outpost, has been working on the launch for two years, but can understand the current flurry of places that may be feeding on people’s narcissism.
“Instagram is here to stay, and it is driving purchasing and behaviour,” Radman says. “When I was approached about this, I immediately looked at the financial side of it, then I looked at the numbers and when I look at my dispensable income, I take my kids to Ripley’s (Aquarium), and I honestly felt like there wasn’t enough for me to take my kids to. A mall or a movie. How many times can you do that? So I did fall in love with the fact that people could take some really cool imagery.” She’s quick to add that the modest-sized museum is not just for photo kicks — there’s an educational component, too.
There are all kinds of illusions — including 3D, holograms, stereograms, kaleidoscopes, Escher-esque paradoxes and other optical tricks — plus some explanations of how they work.
But walking away with memorable snaps for social media is a primary draw of, for instance, the museum’s Upside-Down Room, its colourful, spinning Vortex Room and its Ames Room, which cleverly plays with perspective. Some of the effects are the sort of thing that have been on display for decades at the Ontario Science Centre, albeit in a less photofriendly format.
Radman, who is also vicepresident of marketing for a technology company in her day job, says that Instagram has become a “brand’s dream.” She adds that the Museum of Illusions plans for other permanent Canadian locations, with Vancouver and Montreal next.
“To be honest, in some ways Toronto feels a little behind on some of these things,” she says of Insta-attractions. “And I am part of this trend, 100 per cent. I would say that there’s room for a lot of different concepts, but I’m proud about representing this brand because it is educational. You’re learning something.”
And hopefully leaving with some great shots. The Museum of Illusions opens Wednesday at 132 Front St. E. Tickets are $23.50 for adults and $19.50 for children. Go to museumofillusions.ca or call 416-889-2285. Pop-up Pics The other very new contender garnering lots of hashtag buzz is Happy Place, the brightly coloured pop-up at Harbourfront, in the former PawsWay. Like the Museum of Illusions, it also includes an upside-down room, as well as a ball pit, a candy room, a cookie room, a rubber ducky bathtub and a snack bar with rainbow-hued treats.
The touring Happy Place, which got its start a year ago in Los Angeles, is even more bald- ly geared toward Instagrammers, with the slogan “Capture Your Happy.”
“It’s challenging being a dad and explaining the challenges that the world is going through,” founder Jared Paul told The Star’s Karon Liu this week. “I just want something positive I can do with my kids, something to be bursting with happiness, and that’s why we picked the theme of expressing happiness in different ways. What I love is that people of all ages seem to enjoy it.”
But this pop-up is here for a good time, not a long time, open until Jan 1. And the happy doesn’t come cheap. Tickets are $32.50 during the week, and $39.50 on weekends. Go to happyplace.me. Crowdfunded Kusama Selfies as entertainment really rose to the level of high-art phenomenon earlier this year when Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrors exhibition opened at the Art Gallery of Ontario, greeted by long lineups (in person and in online ticket queues) and record-breaking attendance.
Still, it came as a surprise when the AGO announced this week that it plans to buy an Infinity Room and make it part of the permanent collection.
There’s a twist: the institution is putting social media slacktivism to the test. The gallery has secured $1 million toward the Kusama cause, but that leaves it $1.3 million short, and is asking patrons to crowdfund the rest in just 30 days. If a picture is worth a thousand words, is a picture in a mirrored Infinity Room worth a million dollars? At press time, after the crowdfunding site had been open less than two days, it had already surpassed 10 per cent of its goal.
Museums have been trying to jump on the social media bandwagon — and succeeding — despite high-profile incidents where selfie seekers have caused damage to priceless works of art. Homegrown on hold Probably one of the most potentially controversial of these places is Fairland Funhouse, which was set to take over an empty supermarket in the middle of Kensington Market — and was supposed to be open by now.
Described as an “intergalactic hotel” and “art maze” with themed rooms, organizers were pitching it as a showcase for rising artists and musicians. For example, girl rockers The Beaches were teamed up with artists the Broadbent Sisters to create an installation resembling a golden, sulphuric rock quarry. Musician Jazz Cartier is collaborating with artist Casey Watson for a jungle-themed room, featuring a large sculpture of a lion that would certainly have had people reaching for their smartphone cameras.
But the project ran into some neighbourhood opposition, and its launch has now been pushed to next year, as the site requires more structural work.
“The Fairland Funhouse team have made the difficult decision to delay opening until spring 2019. The process to secure the building and occupancy permits required to transform this historic building to a public space has been long and complex, with many parties collaborating to ensure the final product is safe and spectacular,” the organizers emailed in a statement.
Until it opens, selfie seekers will have plenty of other local ways to occupy themselves.