Things To Do In New York City: Swing On A Mirrored Carousel!

New Museum

Things to do in New York City: Visit the New Museum, float about on a mirrored carousel, whizz down an enormous indoor slide, stick your head inside an aquarium full of phosphorescent fish & hang out with some neon animals. Why? ‘Cause I did it just the other day, & it’s bloody brilliant!

If you — like me — are planning on spending your winter in NYC, & enjoy blatting about but don’t relish freezing to death, you are probably — again, like me — looking for some activities which do not require much time spent outside, in the elements.

Of course, there’s MoMA, the Met, the Guggenheim, & all that other cultural stuff uptown. But there’s also a fabulous little gem tucked away downtown, on the Bowery, conveniently located just down from Patricia Field’s boutique! (Hooray!) Oui, & it’s called the New Museum.

Just as the name would have you believe, the New Museum is a modern little blighter, full of fancy new-fangled art, & especially right now. After reading about it in Time Out New York, & knowing that it was something I just HAD to see with my own eyes, I paid a little visit to Carsten Höller’s Experience. It runs until January 15, so you have time if you want to check it out too! I love art you can interact with, & Experience is pretty much the ultimate in getting up-close-&-personal with an art piece!

You probably all know by now that I cannot resist a good carousel, & Carsten Höller’s creation is a real beauty.

New Museum

New Museum

Here’s the undisturbed view of it; a fairly sizable steel structure, polished to within an inch of its life, blazing bright with bulbs, & swinging back & forth with sterile stainless steel chairs. Really, it was ace. I’d like to start every day there!

The carousel isn’t the only thing in the room, though. The first thing you notice when you step out of the elevator is the cluster of birdcages hung up high, filled with fluttering songbirds. Then you look over, & a man is handing out bicycle helmets to anyone adventurous enough to take the slide all the way down to the 2nd floor!

There was plenty to explore… & so we did!

New Museum

New MuseumYou must not use the stairs while wearing Upside-Down Goggles.

New Museum

There’s SO much more to do at the New Museum, including Carsten Höller’s “Giant Psycho Tank”, a sensory deprivation tank where you can float around in water & feel weightless, enormous mushroom sculptures & of course, the slide which spans several floors! (You can read more about his exhibition here!) Lydia & I had so much fun adventuring our way through it.

Carsten Höller has conceived his practice as a kind of laboratory for the investigation of a diverse range of subjects, including sensory perception, transportation, sexuality, and psychedelic intoxication. Though he has a rigorous scientific background, including a doctorate in insect communication, he has flipped the values of science on their head, prioritizing the act of questioning over the collection of results. With his New Museum exhibition, “Experience,” Höller’s laboratory has been given physical form, as visitors encounter four floors of open-ended experiments that challenge their most fundamental existential assumptions.

New Museum

To the museum, I wore…

Pink sequin mouse ear hat from Disneyland
Skater dress from ASOS, though you can’t see it because I was absolutely freezing!
Indigo cowl by Trisha Fernandez
Vintage black suede & faux fur coat — am wearing this every day lately!
Black & white-striped fingerless gloves (a winter essential)
Cashmere leggings (also a winter essential)
Glitter booties from ASOS

New Museum

This cowl is my scarf replacement; I wrote about it a while ago when I talked about winter essentials! I bought it on Etsy & haven’t regretted it for an instant. You just throw it over your head & go! I love the colour, it’s so beautiful.

New Museum

…& do we all love the shoes?! Yeah, me too. I love them so much, in fact, I picked up a pair in turquoise, too! J’adore that velvet toe-cap with the bow on it…

New Museum

New Museum

All photos were taken by Lydia Hudgens! Thanks, girl!