Whether you love them or hate them, you can’t go far without seeing a selfie on your social media. But did you ever expect to find them in a museum?
Peering into the display case of the Museum of Selfies, a viewer would be delighted to see classic portraitures photoshopped to look as if the subjects were taking selfies. At first glance, the new pop-up museum seems like another nondescript building surrounded by the more enticing restaurants of the city. However, after entering the pastel-colored entrance, visitors are instantly immersed in the evolution of modern selfie-taking. And while the prospect of paying a $25 entrance fee for a museum centered on the ill-defined social media phenomenon dissuades some people, it hasn’t prevented the continuous stream of ticket sales from all over Los Angeles County.
Likening selfies to ancient caveman drawings and Renaissance portraits, the venue convinces its visitors that it's only human nature to snap a photo of themselves. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the picturesque exhibits, from the 3D Instagram-themed photobooth and the world’s longest selfie-stick to the room modeled after Vincent Van Gogh’s famous painting of his bedroom. Stocked with a variety of selfie-themed exhibits, the entire museum takes about an hour to explore (depending on your enthusiasm for a good selfie).
The museum, which opened on April 1, embraces the frivolity of selfies and features works from independent and international artists defying artistic elitism. After all, art has always been a reflection of current times. However, considering the amount of venues feeding into the “Made-for-Instagram” museum trend, the museum’s celebration of the widespread influence of selfies seems less genuine than they would like us to believe.
Galleries similar to the Museum of Selfies have cropped up all over the country as well as on our social media feeds—expanding the meaning of art and the concept of museums itself. The trend can be traced back to the overwhelming popularity of Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirror Room and the Rain Room at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. Their popularity eventually culminated in hour long lines of photo opportunists looking for their next backdrop. While these interactive art installations weren’t specifically designed for social media consumption, their raving online success has exposed the masses’ demand for these types of exhibits.
The Museum of Selfies behaves more like a giant photo-op and homage to the social media trend than as an actual museum. Simply put, these venues simply have nuanced goals different from the traditional museum. Artists featured in museums have been known throughout the years to provoke thought and explore the limits of color and space, while places like the Museum of Selfies do less to provoke thought and more to earn social media clout.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Museum of Selfies and the “Made For Instagram” museum trend delivers the experience consumers want and encourages a youthful joy taking cute photos. And the museum’s support of the millennial habit shouldn’t be scorned for its business ingenuity. Social media has undeniably changed how we interact with art. Whether the change is for better or worse, or just fundamentally different, is up to each person (and their followers) to decide.