Mercer Labs: Museum of Art and Technology

Mercer Labs: Museum of Art and Technology is an immersive exhibition at Mercer Labs on Dey Street in Downtown Manhattan, where art, light and sound respond to the visitor as they move through the rooms.

The exhibition brings together around fifteen installations on a single floor plan, and the visit is built around moving through them rather than standing in front of a wall of works. Visitors walk through three-dimensional images made of light, suspended from more than 500,000 LED lights, and pass through a space of about 5,000 square feet where classic masterpieces are projected in 360-degree shifting images. Other rooms invite interaction: a robotic arm plays an electric cello, and waving a hand over sensors changes the melody that results. A sand-drawing machine recreates famous paintings with a large robotic arm.

Mercer Labs is a museum of art and technology in Downtown Manhattan, and the exhibition is designed as an immersive experience rather than a conventional display of framed works. A 4DSOUND room lets visitors feel music through floor vibrations and omnidirectional speakers, while a room filled with pink hydrangeas and animated monkeys offers a place to pause.

The program suits visitors of all ages, including families with children, who can color a creature that appears on the walls and play in a ball pit. Allow roughly an hour and a half for the full circuit, and note that the venue is ADA compliant.