The multi-sensory maze known as 29Rooms is on its way to Dallas, where it'll crop up Aug. 9 at Gilley's on South Lamar as a vast complex of interactive rooms, each with their own photogenic décor for visitors to take in.
The installation is pitching itself as more than just an Instagram backdrop, but really, we all know what this is about. 29Rooms has drawn more than 100,000 guests in other cities since launching in 2015, probably few of whom left without a digital souvenir or two. This is the event's first-ever stop in Dallas. Organized by digital media group Refinery 29, 29Rooms is yet another immersive art experience along the lines of Dallas' own Sweet Tooth Hotel, Rainbow Vomit, Psychedelic Robot, and more.
The roster of rooms in Dallas, folded under the name 29 Rooms: Expand Your Reality, will include pieces from local artists, plus some setups that already wowed visitors during previous 29Rooms tours. Complete with Prince, Back to the Future and Jennifer Lopez posters - plus an old-school gaming console - the room shown below looks like your typical '90s kid's bedroom, except there's a surrealist twist: All the furniture is covered in Dr. Seuss-like fur.
Other hands-on-style rooms in the complex take things down a notch. One, a makeshift art studio, allows visitors to leave their marks.
Specific to the Dallas event is a sculpture by Dallas artist Dan Lam, which forms the centerpiece of an area that the festival's creators call the Art Park.
Also in the mix is a large-scale mural by Denton-based artist Alicia Eggert called The Traveling Billboard.
Wandering around the entire complex typically takes people about 2 1/2 hours, according to its organizers. They're from the digital media company Refinery29, which, in its online form, focuses mainly on women's fashion and entertainment news.
29Rooms: Expand Your Reality, Aug. 9-18 at Gilley's Southside Ballroom, 1135 S. Lamar St., $30 tickets available online.
UPDATED, Aug. 5 at 6:45 p.m.: This story has been updated with additional details about 29Rooms' Dallas event, as well as new photos.