Between the Museum of Ice Cream and Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room at the Broad , it seemed that Los Angeles was dominating the West Coast in selfie-centric destinations. But today San Francisco opens its own social media draw, Color Factory, a building near Union Square that has been transformed into a 12,000-square-foot multihued interactive experience. The installation, which runs through the end of August, is the brainchild of Jordan Ferney, the creator of the popular blog Oh Happy Day . Ferney teamed with artist Leah Rosenberg, who served as creative director, and designer Erin Jang, who, as art director, conceived the overall look of the exhibit.
The sunny yellow ball pit is filled with 207,000 plastic balls.
Designer Erin Jang created the rainbow reception area.
Color Factory is home to 15 site-specific works by artists and creatives, with a mix of local and global talents. “Our goal was that each installation would meet three criteria,” says Ferney. “It would be conceptual, [be] beautiful and photogenic, and be an experience you couldn’t get anywhere else.” Some rooms focus on a single shade, such as Bay Area artist Tosha Stimage’s assemblage of orange objects and British artist Tom Stayte’s violet selfie installation, while others celebrate the full color spectrum. Jang created a variety of rainbow spaces, from a plaid mural to the striped reception room.
Visitors can draw on the walls in Andy J. Miller and Andrew Neyer’s room.
Inside Tom Stayte’s installation, selfies tagged with the artist’s name are printed out every 12 seconds.
“We wanted each space to be visually interesting and add an element of surprise or delight,” says Jang. “This was true for the smallest spaces—like a bathroom downstairs painted the most vibrant shade of pink and lined with framed posters of fart jokes and potty humor I designed—and for the most visible areas, like the exterior of the building.”
A rainbow staircase connects the two levels.
Swedish artist Jacob Dahlgren created a piece with 10,000 ribbons.
The experience doesn’t end after after visitors climb out of the yellow ball pit. The trio worked with Rebecca Wright to devise a map that leads to vibrant experiences around the city, including a custom-made jukebox that plays color-themed songs. They also made sure that guests would be able to capture their time at Color Factory, by installing photo stations throughout the building.
“We love to see how people are interacting in these spaces, from one room to the next, creating their own visual interpretations through their photographs,” says Ferney. “That said, we hope people will delight in all the extra considerations added to each space we’ve created when viewed in person, as it is so much richer than just liking an image on a screen.”
