Monday, February 26, 2018

My Day in LA: The Museum of Illusions

The Museum of Illusions, Los Angeles, Hollywood, experience popup, wall art, street art, Jamie Allison Sanders, The Beauty of Life, bubbles mural
Most people in my life know how I feel about experience popups -- which is that I LOVE THEM. For example, I visited The Museum of Ice Cream not once, but twice in the span of a few months! I also had to check out Happy Place at the end of the year, and -- much to my excitement -- I'm going to Candytopia very soon! So when I found out about The Museum of Illusions, I immediately knew I'd be going.

How do you find out about new and exciting happenings in your city? I actually find out quite a bit through Instagram -- either by accounts liking my posts or posts I see in my feed. I have to admit that I usually don't remember exactly where or how it originates, but Instagram makes quite an impact on my daily life! And somehow, that's how The Museum of Illusions made its way into my line of sight.

I recruited my friend Gerold to check out this popup with me. He's always up for an adventure and for trying new things in LA, so I knew he'd be the perfect plus one! I want to be totally honest about our experience -- both positive and negative -- so here's a rundown.

THE POSITIVE

We purchased tickets in advance on Eventbrite. I LOVE Eventbrite -- it makes ticket purchasing for any event so easy, since it saves your info, and you can pull up the tickets on their app or your email so you don't have to print them out.

The art really is amazing! Every piece creates a different kind of illusion that makes you stop and stare. Gerold and I chose a select few to photograph -- we wanted to showcase our personalities and only take pictures of the ones that really spoke to us.

Not only is the art amazing, but there are sample photos next to each one to show you the best pose that will properly showcase the illusion. That was so helpful, especially in the case of these two...

The Museum of Illusions, Los Angeles, Hollywood, experience popup, wall art, street art, Jamie Allison Sanders, The Beauty of Life, building
Uh oh ... I was about to topple right off this building! Luckily, Gerold was there to catch my fall.

The Museum of Illusions, Los Angeles, Hollywood, experience popup, wall art, street art, Jamie Allison Sanders, The Beauty of Life, space room
This is right past the entrance to the museum. The photographer captures your picture through a small hole outside the room, which is built at an angle to show the different perspectives. I love Gerold's face here.

I appreciated that there were guides for how to pose correctly, because some of the murals really did need it.

There are over 30 works of art throughout the space, which is super impressive! They're all very inventive and creative. Some of them even came with props...

The Museum of Illusions, Los Angeles, Hollywood, experience popup, wall art, street art, Jamie Allison Sanders, The Beauty of Life, flower wall
This flower wall came with an oversized flower to hold! And, yes, my leggings have Falcor from "The Neverending Story" printed on them.
Top: vintage Piperlime. Leggings: Poprageous. Booties: JustFab.


THE NEGATIVE

Although we purchased our tickets in advance, this didn't actually end up mattering. The Museum of Illusions doesn't offer timed tickets -- it's just a ticket for a specific day. When we arrived, we saw a LOOOONG line (it went all the way down a block of Hollywood Boulevard and halfway up the street around the corner). We figured maybe this was for people who hadn't already bought their tickets. While I waited in the line just in case, Gerold went to the front to see if there was a separate line or entrance for people who purchased tickets in advance. That answer would be no -- we had to wait in line with everyone else. And that makes me question why there's even an opportunity to pre-purchase tickets -- because if you can't skip the line, why would you bother? We ended up having to wait for about 45 minutes before we got inside. (Thankfully, there was a Starbucks on the corner to give us a little caffeine jolt.)

Once we finally got to the ticket counter, it was extremely disorganized. The line kind of clumped and no one was really directing us to buy or show our tickets.

Now the magic had happened and we were allowed in! I have to say, it was basically mass hysteria. Since there was no timed entry, and no set number of people who seemed to be allowed in at any given time, there were just people running everywhere. There are also so many different pieces of art throughout, but they're very close together without a way to properly line up or wait to take photos. This was especially true near a mural of Donald Trump, which included a pair of boxing gloves (so you could pretend to be punching him). But we ended up walking away before taking a picture at all, because it was way too chaotic.

Throughout the space, there were just way too many people running around (especially young children) without any sense of purpose or order. It made it difficult to fully enjoy the art or the experience. I also would have loved more background on who created each piece. Was it one person? Multiple people? Famous artists? Unknowns? I would love to give credit to the people who created them, but unfortunately there was none given.

The exit to the museum was very strange. There was a door right next to the bubbles mural -- once we went through it, we climbed down two flights of steps, walked past construction workers and exited into an apartment courtyard on a side street. It definitely took away from the magic inside.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall, I'd say this was a unique experience in Los Angeles, but not necessarily one I would recommend. It's fairly expensive -- tickets range from $10 for children to $25 for adults, and VIP tickets are $100. The museum suggests that you will spend an hour inside, but Gerold and I were out in about 30 minutes. I also don't need to take over 30 photos of myself in one location, no matter how many cool murals may exist there -- so it felt over-indulgent, especially since that was the only thing to do here. But if you want some very unique photos of yourself that will absolutely get noticed, then you should definitely visit! Plus, you may wind up with photos like this...

The Museum of Illusions, Los Angeles, Hollywood, experience popup, wall art, street art, Jamie Allison Sanders, The Beauty of Life, Marilyn Monroe white dress and legs
The iconic Marilyn Monroe image -- white dress flying up and gorgeous legs -- was definitely larger than life!

Tickets for the Museum of Illusions are available here.

9 comments:

  1. Sounds like they don't entirely have their act together with regard to processes, but it certainly looks like a fun place to spend some time and take photos!

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  2. So many fun pictures! But bummer that it wasn't too orderly. Have you been to the Spy and the Crime museums in DC? I went in 2012 and there were so many fun photo-ops!

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  3. Wow, they really sound disorganized, and I can't believe that you had to stand in the same line with people who hadn't purchased their tickets! It definitely looks like a fun place once you get in there though!

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  4. I hate lines, what's the use of buying tickets online. But I would love to visit a place like this!

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  5. I would go but I'm not a fan of lines! Great photos though!

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  6. The visuals are stunning, but the long line and utter chaos of the space would make me run for the exit. Well written review!

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  7. That is an amazing museum! I think my husband would get a kick out of it.

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  8. It sounds fun but I really don't like crowds. The art does look amazing though!

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  9. It's too bad they weren't more organized! This looks like so much fun though. I wish we had more neat things like this where I lived!

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