I wndr where I wndr? Chicago's New Secret Museum
UPDATED AUGUST 13: The museum opening has been pushed back one month to mid-September. Check website for details.
By GINNY VAN ALYEA
The buzz started a few weeks ago about a new museum that would be opening at the end of the summer in Chicago. We only knew it would be Instagram-friendly, that you'd be allowed in for a hot minute (snap that selfie and move along!) and that it would be located somewhere. In Chicago. Well, nothing breeds interest like some good mystery. In the age of knowing everything without actually having to go anywhere beyond your phone screen, the also mysteriously titled wndr museum will be sure to get people off the couch.
This week we learned that the museum will open in the West Loop (1130 W. Monroe St.) on August 17 and that you can take part in the sure-to-be selfie frenzy for $32/person.
The reason everyone will want to go? They missed seeing renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama's wildly popular show at D.C.'s Hirshorn Museum last year, which featured her signature, trippy infinity rooms. What's better than a selfie with some cool art? A selfie with art that has a mirror and lights.
Kusama's Infinity Mirrored Room: Let’s Survive Forever, welcomed a nearly 75,000 people in November at NYC's David Zwirner Gallery (yes, 75,000 people in a gallery) according to artnet news. Her retrospective exhibition, which was at the Hirshorn, featured six selfie-tastic rooms (The show is still on tour! It’s in Cleveland if you want to go check out FRONT and the show - by the way I love the new Cleveland marketing campaign, "Make no mistake...")
The wndr musuem is not just the Kusama closet. According to its website you will "Step into a space that reveals the wonder of the natural world around us."
The Chicago Tribune reported that the wndr museum will also offer a “zero-gravity ball pit,” and a three-story kinetic sculpture designed to take people from examining microscopic particles to feeling the vastness of space. Edible experiences are set to include a machine, from Eydelnant’s Future Food Studio, that turns any food into a flavor-packed cloud and preparations from Richard Farina, former executive chef at Moto, the now-shuttered Chicago restaurant that was celebrated for its molecular gastronomy.
$32 tickets, and limited details, are on wndrmuseum.com
Check out a video from WTTW as well