Monday Mashups: A New York Pop-Up Museum Inspired by Sleep

The success of visual pop-up “museums” such as Refinery29’s 29Rooms in New York and Los Angeles, the traveling Museum of Ice Cream, and San Francisco's Color Factory is leading more event producers and designers to create temporary, Instagram-worthy exhibits based on a theme. One of the latest of these is the Dream Machine—a new experience in Brooklyn that features a series of rooms inspired by dreams and stages of the sleep cycle.

The ticketed pop-up museum—which runs through May 31 at a vacant retail space at 93 North 9th St. in Williamsburg—is the brainchild of Gary Johnson and Paige Solomon, a duo that previously created events for brands at experiential agency Magnetic Collaborative. Dream Machine is the first standalone project they have produced and designed on their own.

The self-guided experience invites attendees to walk through a series of rooms at their own pace. Hired “dream technicians” wearing blue uniforms are on hand to direct guests as needed and encourage them to take photos. The rooms, all of which present different dreamlike environments, include an entry room designed to make guests feel like they’re walking through clouds; a neon laundromat that serves cotton candy from washing machines; a ball pit designed to make guests feel like they’re swimming underwater in a pool; and two areas inspired by the popular, traveling art exhibit “Yayoi Kusama: Infinity Mirrors.”

Depending on the success of the Dream Machine in New York, Solomon and Johnson would love to bring the experience to other cities. We hope Boston's on the list! Make plans to visit the Dream Machine to see how you can devour the details of this sleep experience.