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Inside the Museum of Ice Cream, this summer’s Instagram magnet

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The over-the-top Manhattan pop-up museum features a bevy of installations themed around ice cream

Every year (give or take), a new art installation or museum exhibit comes along that takes New York City—particularly its Instagrammers—by storm. In 2013, it was a toss-up between the "Rain Room" at the Museum of Modern Art and Yayoi Kusama’s selfie-inspiring "Infinity Room"; in 2014, Kara Walker’s "A Subtley" captivated visitors and amateur photographers (for better or worse) at the dilapidated Domino Sugar Factory in Williamsburg. This year, Martin Creed’s "The Back Door" at Park Avenue Armory is inspiring a similar photographic fervor, leading once again to questions of whether this trend is about the art or about the spectacle.

While it’s not exactly in the same league as artists like Kara Walker or Yayoi Kusama, the newly-opened Museum of Ice Cream in the Meatpacking District is similarly destined to be endlessly Instagrammed. The month-long pop-up, which bills itself as an "urban ice cream playground," features a series of interactive installations, all themed around the sweet treat, that function mostly as really fun photo ops. Unsurprisingly, Instagram is already full of photos offering a peek inside the space (which is already sold out for its entire run—yes, really).

There’s this, per the museum’s website: "Guests will swing on an ice cream sandwich made for two, seesaw on an ice cream scooper and find their match/favorite flavor on a custom app in Tinder Land."

Tinder's ice cream-theme playground at the #MuseumofIceCream in #NewYork

A photo posted by BizBash (@bizbash) on

There’s also a "chocolate chamber":

And, perhaps the most photographed part of the museum thus far, a giant pool full of sprinkles that you can actually flop around in. (But maybe don’t eat any of those sprinkles.…)

How better than to cool off in a pool of 11,000 lbs of sprinkles? Take a tour of the space on my snapchat #moic

A photo posted by Erica Choi (@eggcanvas) on

lil midday sprinkle between the toes @museumoficecream

A video posted by caro (@carolange13) on

Other installations include a "cone wall" designed by artist Alex Garnett, with a wall patterned to look like a sugar cone:

Cone wall magic ✨#museumoficecream #MOIC #icecream lights by @alexofgarnett

A photo posted by MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM (@museumoficecream) on

And of course, there’s actual ice cream to eat:

Yesterday all our sweet dreams came true at the @MuseumOfIceCream #newforkcity

A photo posted by New Fork City® (@new_fork_city) on

Life imitates art @museumoficecream #museumoficecream

A photo posted by Mike Chau (@mikejchau) on

But alas, like every other art-as-spectacle installation, this one is going to be hard to get into: Tickets for pop-up have already sold out, but it’s open until 3 p.m. today on a first-come, first-serve basis, so get in line now if you want to see the sprinkle pool for yourself.

They really DO all scream for #icecream... #museumoficecream

A photo posted by Vance Garrett vancegarrett (@vancegarrett) on

MUSEUM OF ICE CREAM

435 North Michigan Avenue, , IL 60611 Visit Website