If you’ve been paying attention to your Insta feed lately, you’ve probably noticed that your favorite bloggers suddenly seem to all be posting pictures at themed pop-up exhibits. With their bright colors, ball pits, and neon lights, these modern museums appear to be Instagram gold, and make you want to get on the next train to NYC so that your feed looks just as aesthetically pleasing.
As a broke college student, I usually refrain from attending these pop-ups, due to their average ticket price of $20 or more. But when I discovered “Room for Tea”, an immersive art pop-up dedicated to boba tea (a.k.a the actual love of my life), I just had to cave and buy a ticket. And so I headed down to TriBeCa one Saturday afternoon to do some very serious investigative journalism, and find out what’s really going on inside these Instagrammable events.
My high expectations of a fully-filtered fantasy land were a bit different from the atmosphere I actually found myself in. In reality, these pop-ups are constructed in an empty warehouse space, a fact that I was much more aware of than I expected to be. While the designers do an amazing job of transforming the space, there are still many moments where you realize this is a temporary structure, and only the perfect angles and shots are truly Insta-worthy.
Another thing that surprised me about the experience was the sheer volume of people in each room. Instagram influencers deserve an Olympic medal for getting those perfect shots, because trying to get a picture without someone in the background is an extreme sport. I found myself being elbowed left and right by others trying to navigate the tiny rooms, and fighting for a spot in line just to pose in front of the best spots.
Having lots of people around also makes it slightly awkward to take your pictures once you’re there. If you’re just an average human like I am, and not an experienced Instagram model, then having a line of people watching and waiting for you to be done can be quite uncomfortable. This can be bothersome to deal with, especially when you’re trying to get hard-to-achieve shots.
At one of the rooms I went in at “Room for Tea”, there were cherry blossoms all over the floor, and I wanted to get a picture of them in the air around me after I had thrown them. Getting this shot took a lot of trial and error. I had to try and figure out how to throw the petals without blocking my face, make sure I was staying posed, and get the timing down with my friend taking the picture. All of this is made much more stressful when you feel rushed by the other attendees waiting for their turn. It’s hard enough to get a decent shot, and it doesn’t help when you feel others eyes on you.
My takeaway:
While the experience of attending a pop-up exhibit was much different than I imagined it to be based off of all the perfectly edited Insta pictures, I’m still glad I went. As long as you go in with a realistic mindset, it can be a fun and worthwhile experience. Going to “Room for Tea” forced me to get outside of my comfort zone, which was previously just quick candid pics taken in passing by my friends. I learned how to quit feeling self-conscious when posing for pictures in public, how to let go, and let yourself be silly.
It was also really interesting to see Instagram influencers in action, and watch them shoot the pictures you end up seeing on their feeds. Getting to see what the actual location looks like before all of the editing makes you realize just how much work goes into creating their content. These people come prepared knowing the perfect poses and angles to get the shots will eventually garner thousands of likes.
Although the tickets can be a bit pricey, if you wait to find a pop-up theme that really interests you, the money is worth spending at least once in your life. These immersive art exhibits are a fascinating trend in our culture at the moment and, as ridiculous as they may be, sometimes you just have to stop taking yourself so seriously and do it for the ‘gram.
All photos courtest of the author, Kayleigh McClean
All photos by Kayleigh McClean.