Popups

Why Pop-ups Are Popular and What You Can Expect To Find At Each One

We’ve been to plenty of pop-ups primarily because I believe in celebrating the everyday and pop-ups spark so much creativity, fun and delight!  They whisk you out of the mundane and shake you up with the extraordinary.  Plus they make for a surplus of Instagram-able pictures!  I’ve collected so many great shots along the way and will share some recent ones today.  (That rhymed).  And I don’t know about you but I’ve discovered patterns along the way.  Here are the 8 elements that make for a popular pop-up!

1. Mirrored/infinity room – Imagine walking into a spectacular, mirrored room, made to look like it goes on forever.  Then imagine you’re told you only have 60 seconds in there.  How would you spend your time?  That’s the challenge you’re given at many of these pop-ups.  And the pressure is ON to snap that Instagram-worthy shot within the short time given.  Here are a few examples.  Name of pop-up where the shot was taken is listed after each picture.
   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up

   

   National Geographic Picasso pop-up

   

   Sunday Riley pop-up

2. Balloons.  Nothing screams celebration like a bunch of balloons so it’s no wonder so many pop-ups decorate with them in bunches.  It just feels like an instant party and who doesn’t love that?
   

   Paypal pop-up

   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up

   

   Happy Place pop-up

   

   Geronimo’s pop-up

   

   Geronimo’s pop-up on another week

3. Floral art – another mood-enhancing pop-up trick is to add an abundance of flowers, the more creative the better.  Sometimes, they’re shaped to resemble something else for a wow effect, sometimes there’s just an endless supply to surround yourself with for your next selfie.
   

   Paypal pop-up

   

   Happy Place pop-up

   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up

4. Ball pit – Who doesn’t love jumping into a ball pit?  This activation turns everyone into a big kid.  Who can resist jumping in especially when the ball pit is a pot of gold, or at the end of a giant pink slide, or part of a snow globe??
   

   Happy Place pop-up 

   

   Sunday Riley pop-up

   

   Google Pop-up 

    

   

   Lay’s pop-up

   

   Candytopia pop-up

   

   Cat pop-up 

   

   Egg House pop-up

5. Supersized items– Super pop-ups always have a supersized surprise.  Whether it’s a giant clam shell you can sit in and hold a pearl larger than you head, or whether it’s a ginormous rubber ducky that couldn’t fit in anyone’s tub, they inspire playfulness and tons of posing.
   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up

   

   Happy Place pop-up

   

   Lay’s pop-up

   

   The Egg House pop-up

   

   Happy Place pop-up

   

   Candytopia pop-up

6. Colorful bathtub – I know, I know, a bathtub?  So what, but when you see it in a photogenic setting in a vibrant, never-before seen color, something takes over you and you must get in!  Trust me, I’ve seen the lines…
   

   Happy Place pop-up

   

   Sunday Riley pop-up

7. Millennial pink – the trendiest of all colors nowadays invokes such joy and comes in shades of blush, to rose quartz. In any case, everyone likes to be pretty in pink. It’s universally flattering and can nowadays be seen everywhere – including popups!
   

   Happy go Lucky Pop-up

   

   Sunday Riley pop-up

   

   Egg House pop-up

   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up 

8. Psychedelic spaces – wanna get wild?  Check out the latest pop-up cuz there’s bound to be a crazy, graphic printed room where the floor, walls and/or ceiling endlessly scream a bold print that leave you with your jaw on the ground.
   

   Happy Go Lucky pop-up

   

   

   Candytopia pop-up

   

   Amaze pop-up

See what I mean?? Did I miss any other recurring themes and motifs?  And how about you?  How do you like pop-ups?

Click here to see more from Geronimo’s balloon explosion at Lincoln Center or here for Amaze’s black and white installation, or here for some 2017 pop-ups.

Prepare to be Amazed at Amaze a new Cadillac House Art Exhibit in NYC

We have enjoyed the Cadillac House for its cool cafe and past art installations.  So when we learned that another Instagram-able art pop-up had appeared, we made sure to go! Little did we know that we were in for a colorful but spooky labyrinth of an experience! This surrealist selfie maze, titled AMAZE was a unique installation by architect Rafael de Cárdenas and visual artist, composer, and vocalist Sahra Motalebi.   “I think in this digital age, people just crave a physical experience in real time, in real life, that’s not virtual. It’s not in front of a laptop or your phone. But at the same time, we love making things that are great for photos that you can share with a lot of people.” Cecilia Dean, (Visionaire co-founder) reports.  I agree and that’s one of the reasons we love pop-ups so much.  They bring you out of the mundane allowing for multisensory exploration.

Walking in from this introductory, front wall, you have no idea what to expect.  But a few steps in, you’re in an enclosed room featuring a circular metal curtain.  Of course, my toddler was immediately drawn in for a game of hide and seek!

We played all sorts of pretend games here and enjoyed disappearing acts, shadow play, and races.  We couldn’t help however, to be intrigued by the  laughter that teased us into the other rooms.

It cackled overhead through the speaker system!

Somebody sounded hysterical and we weren’t sure why.  It both intrigued and entertained us!

And yes, we dressed in our black and white houndstooth, having previously done our research and having loved this pop art wall!

And then the overhead sounds turned into wicked cries…  And my 5-year-old daughter pictured here sliding down the corner wall, wasn’t so sure about the cackling noises anymore.

It wasn’t until I reminded her that we were in a fun pop-up and that the artist must be trying to scare us as if we were in a haunted house that she brightened up and thought that was awfully tricky.  We talked about how we dressed up for Halloween as witches and made the same scary noises.   And soon, she had the hilarious idea to try and scare others!

This hyper-chromatic, hallway of mirrors seemed to be made for selfies and proved to be a perfect practicing ground for her scary moves and sonic additions.

This carnival-esque room, prompted all sorts of primping, posing and photographing.  So while Instagram-ers were concentrating on shooting the perfect shot,  Juliet took this perfect opportunity to jump out from the corner, and scare them much to their delight!  Little did she realize that her projected shrieks and cackling laughter, helped complete this strange and surreal experience with a little toddler fun.

 

For my tips on getting Instagram-able shots, click here!

For our review on the new NYC egg-themed pop – up that you can still buy tickets to, click here!

AMAZE is on view, free to the public until JUNE 10th

The Gallery at Cadillac House

330 Hudson Street, New York, New York, 10013.

Hours are 8:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday to Friday and 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday.

 

To see the last art installation at the Cadillac House entitled, Toilet Paper Paradise, click here