As my metre-tall daughter’s head slowly disappeared beneath the surface of a swimming pool filled with smiling yellow balls, I realised four-year-olds might not be the intended demographic of London’s latest interactive art exhibit. “Help!” she squealed, teetering between terrified and elated.
This enormous psychedelic ball pit takes centre stage at the Balloon Museum, which opened in east London on Wednesday. The concept began in Rome with Pop Air, before versions of the inflatable exhibition were exported around the world to 3 million visitors in cities including Paris and New York. Now it’s London’s turn with EmotionAir.
The lead curator, Antonella Di Lullo, is passionate about what inflatable art can achieve. “The idea is that the balloon brings everybody to the child’s age,” she said, enthusing about the installations by 20 artists, including oversized inflatable rabbits, bubbles and massive beach balls.
At eight, my older daughter enjoyed causing havoc with what appeared to be a giant executive toy. Huge black and white patterned balls hung from the ceiling to be pushed, ricocheting into each other and sending a couple of younger kids flying. Another room, filled with pumping techno music and child-sized inflatable eggs resembling the cult 70s toy Weebles, was also a hit.
The exhibition is one of a glut of immersive cultural experiences pitched to all ages but whose real target audience appears to be Instagram accounts. Whereas once cameras were unwelcome in galleries, here signs tell visitors: “Tag us! Your experience is important to us, share it!”
At the heart of it all is the ball pit, where everyone wants their pictures taken. Made in the style of a swimming pool, complete with ladders and a giant ball with images and sounds projected on to it, this was what seemed to have drawn most of the visitors.
Aadishi Agarwal, 25, a lawyer from London who had seen an advert for the exhibit on Instagram, was in the queue to go in. “I think I saw the ball pit and thought I’d love to jump in,” she said. Her friend added: “It’s very Instagrammable, for sure.”
The smallest visitors, who are oblivious to the ’gram, enjoyed Kaleidoscope, a room designed by Karina Smigla-Bobinski featuring tables covered in backlit coloured liquid and squishy clear plastic that can be prodded. Its biggest fan was Nico, two, who was transfixed as he crawled over them.
His mother, Ellen Pires, 40, who works in advertising, had also seen the advert on Instagram and thought it looked more fun than a normal soft play. “It’s more interactive with more colours and sensations for him to enjoy,” she said.
The exhibits are intended to prompt an emotional reaction. One room themed on anxiety has strobe lighting and static noise, and was immediately evacuated by my youngest.
A sign by another reads: “Each piece is designed to stimulate an intimate dialogue with one’s feelings, providing a unique insight into the complexity of the human experience.”
But much of the exhibit seemed most planned around what it would look like on a social media feed. The final room, Balloon Street, was a series of booths to pose in for photographs. A sign said: “Time for you to express yourself! Step into our world of inflatable art and be the artist of your own experience.”
One had a set of pink balloon angel wings to stand between, while another was a yellow balloon festooned phone box saying “call me”. The queue for this was considerable, as children and adults waited to pose for pictures. One girl pushed her mum out of shot, scowling “no, without you”.
The organisers are clearly expecting large numbers. Four colour-coded queues outside included boxes of matching golf umbrellas for each lane, but only the yellow line was in use on the first day, its bedraggled members rain-soaked as the wind blew their brollies inside out.
For adults who want to feel like a kid again – or families who want a soft play with more glamour and without the stench of stale chicken nuggets – it makes for a fun day out. But it is not cheap. Tickets are from £32 for adults or £18 for under-15s, while a family ticket starts at £90. The exhibition runs until 18 February.
