No need to wait until a carnival comes to town to visit a house of mirrors when there’s a semi-permanent one right here in Arizona! It’s an exhibit known as the “Firefly Room” at the Phoenix Art Museum, and stepping inside is a transcendental experience.
Spanning a whopping 285,000 square feet, Phoenix Art Museum is the desert southwest’s largest display of its kind.
TripAdvisor/Phoenix Art Museum This expansive gallery has been showcasing thousands of works from all over the world for the past 60 years, ensuring everyone who visits leaves a more cultured person.
As you explore the perfectly curated collections, take note of the striking variances between each one.
TripAdvisor/jjctraveler It’s impossible to get bored among so many eye-catching sculptures, paintings, and several other artforms that constantly pull your attention in a different direction.
However, there’s one particular exhibit that may just guide you through a transcendental, mind-altering journey: Yayoi Kusama’s mirrored infinity room.
Phoenix Art Museum / Facebook The full title of Kusama’s installation at the Phoenix Art Museum is You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies, but many refer to it simply as the Firefly Room.
Yayoi Kusama is a world-renowned, multitalented artist who left Japan for the U.S. in the 1950s.
TripAdvisor/jehenson81 Kusama has suffered from hallucinations since she was a child, and her infinity rooms attempt to illustrate the psychedelic sensations of the ‘self.’
This whimsical exhibit is inspired by a Japanese folktale about someone in a field with 10,000 fireflies.
Phoenix Art Museum Website Strands of LED lights suspended from above transform this deceptively small space into a vast, never-ending galaxy where nothing is as it seems.
Look closely and you’ll see continuous mirrors lining every inch of the room from floor to ceiling, which is how the room takes on the sensory interpretation of infinite space.
Phoenix Art Museum / Facebook
Pervasive repetition in the form of polka dots, lights, and mirrors challenge guests to abandon their personalities and become one with eternity.
TripAdvisor/jfadds Stepping inside this immersive art piece is truly a one-of-a-kind experience and photos simply cannot fully do it justice. Make a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum to see it for yourself!
Visit the museum’s website or Facebook page to learn more.
TripAdvisor/Phoenix Art Museum
This expansive gallery has been showcasing thousands of works from all over the world for the past 60 years, ensuring everyone who visits leaves a more cultured person.
TripAdvisor/jjctraveler
It’s impossible to get bored among so many eye-catching sculptures, paintings, and several other artforms that constantly pull your attention in a different direction.
Phoenix Art Museum / Facebook
The full title of Kusama’s installation at the Phoenix Art Museum is You Who are Getting Obliterated in the Dancing Swarm of Fireflies, but many refer to it simply as the Firefly Room.
TripAdvisor/jehenson81
Kusama has suffered from hallucinations since she was a child, and her infinity rooms attempt to illustrate the psychedelic sensations of the ‘self.’
Phoenix Art Museum Website
Strands of LED lights suspended from above transform this deceptively small space into a vast, never-ending galaxy where nothing is as it seems.
TripAdvisor/jfadds
Stepping inside this immersive art piece is truly a one-of-a-kind experience and photos simply cannot fully do it justice. Make a trip to the Phoenix Art Museum to see it for yourself!
Have you ever been inside the Firefly Room? If so, tell us all about the experience.
Phoenix Art Museum Hours: Tuesday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday – Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday: 12 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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