The Paradox Museum Miami Aims to Trick the Eye

Paradox Museum Miami is a mixture of art, science, and fun.

The 1,000-square-meter museum is housed in Miami's Wynwood arts and entertainment area. It has more than 70 public displays known as exhibits. Executive director Samantha Impellizeri says these exhibits challenge the imagination.

She added that visitors can walk away from the experience with some really fun and interesting material for social media.

Paradox Museum has more than ten locations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. The Miami location, which opened in 2022, was the first in North America.

The term paradox is central to the museum and what visitors experience. A paradox is a situation or thing that has seemingly opposite or contradictory qualities.

“Each paradox is uniquely tied to its community,” Impellizeri said. “So as you walk throughout the experience, you’ll notice different themes and art installations that directly reflect not only Miami but the Wynwood community specifically."

Many of the displays at Paradox Museum suggest old carnival funhouses – buildings that had devices and rooms designed to surprise or amaze visitors.

Examples include the mirror maze, the spinning tunnel, and the upside-down room. The difference is that Paradox Museum explains the math and science behind each illusion.

“We’re a top field trip destination for pre-K all the way up through college students,” Impellizeri said. She added that the museum has a large number of educational activities that students can do before, during, and after the visit.

Like any museum, Paradox Museum plans to change its exhibits to keep visitors coming back.

“We’re not going to be the same space in a year to three years from now," Impellizeri said.

Paradox Museum Miami introduced a new Zero Gravity Room last fall. Visitors can turn their smart phone cameras on and attach their phones to a spinning holder. Then they step into a large, slowly moving room designed to look like the inside of a space station. The resulting video makes it look as though they are walking up the wall and ceiling inside a room unaffected by gravity.

Paradox Museum is part of a movement towards so-called “immersive art experiences.” These kinds of art experiences often use technology to make the visitors feel like they are taking part in art rather than just looking at it.

“Immersive experiences around the world are increasing in popularity,” Impellizeri noted.

Immersive art experiences have opened all over the world during the past 10 years or so. Examples include a company called Meow Wolf with several locations in the western United States, as well as a Van Gogh exhibit that has been traveling through North America, Europe and Asia since 2017. Superblue Miami, which opened in 2021, is another example.

Visitors generally take 60 to 90 minutes to make their way through Paradox Museum. Tickets normally cost $26 for adults and teenagers and $20 for children.

Seventeen-year-old Facundo Ildarraz and his family came to Miami from Argentina. Ildarraz said his mother found Paradox Museum online. He said it turned out to be a great chance to take fun photos with his family.

“I’ve been laughing since I went inside,” Ildarraz said. “It’s really amazing.”

Dennis Speigel is head of a business advisory company called International Theme Park Services, Inc. Speigel said immersive experiences are a natural progression of location-based entertainment. Location-based entertainment includes go-cart tracks, laser tag, paint ball, indoor skydiving, escape rooms and trampoline parks. These are activities that take visitors a few hours to go through.

“It’s a lot of little things that we’ve had in the industry for years, heightened by our new technology…to make the experience new and something people haven’t seen,” Speigel said.

I’m John Russell.

David Fischer reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

museum – n. a place where objects are shown or exhibited

entertainment –n. watching performances and doing public activities for fun

challenge – v. to interest or stimulate by presenting difficulties; to invite for a competition

location –n. the place where a business is

theme – n. subject of artistic representation

installation – n. a work of art that usually has several components and is often in mixed media

illusion – n. something that tricks or deceives

pre-K (pre-kindergarten) –n. school for very young children

immersive – adj. characterized by immersion or deep involvement in something (such as an activity or artificial environment)

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