Billed as a place where art and technology meet, New York's newest museum promises to reinvent the format with an “immersive and sensory” experience.
The Mercer Lab Museum of Art and Technology features the work of painter, sculptor, and sound and light designer Roy Nachum.
Open since January in Manhattan's financial district, Nachum and investor Michael Kaia told AFP that the $35 million they spent on the space, a former shopping mall, will officially open on March 28. He said he wants to make a profit.
Prices are high, even in a city as expensive as America's financial capital, which is full of cultural and entertainment attractions.
Adults pay $52 and retirees and youth pay $46.
But Mr Kaile, an entrepreneur and property developer, insists it represents the value of an hour-long “ultimate experience”.
Mercer Lab, like many of the New York sites that have opened in recent years, including Vanderbilt Tower's “Summit One” and panoramic views from the One World Trade Center and The Edge skyscrapers, is also popular with Instagram and TikTok's Matatabi. It is in the perfect position.
~ “Touch the work” ~
Nachum has been based in New York for 20 years and is perhaps best known for designing the art for megastar Rihanna's 2015 album “Anti.”
The cover depicts a blindfolded child wearing a golden crown with Braille inscriptions, a tribute to Nachum's visually impaired grandmother.
Mercer said the collection of installations “redefines the museum experience through 15 interactive exhibition spaces, unique listening experiences, and immersive installations that challenge the relationship between art and technology.”
As established museums seek to attract younger audiences and stay relevant, Mercer took a new approach, Nachum said.
“You can't touch the works in any museum or gallery. We want people here to touch the works and interact with them,” he told AFP.
Visitors are invited into a darkened room where Nachum's videos, photos and holograms are projected onto the walls, floor and ceiling, giving the space the feel of a nightclub with smoke machines and DJ beats.
At the Dragon's Lair, 500,000 LED lamps flash in time to convince visitors of the mythical creature's presence.
“[Technology]is a different pen, a different brush, but we're using it and we're trying to break boundaries, we're trying to create new technology. We're trying to create something new. , we're mixing so many different technologies at the same time,'' Nachum said.
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