The Flutter Experience: A Museum that Wants to Improve Your Mental Health

(Originally written for Arts, Culture and Entertainment reporting class at USC)

Flutter, a white, Spanish-style building with a glass façade and pink neon light pouring onto the side- walk is Los Angeles’s latest interactive museum. “Art saves lives” in faux fur lettering is the first thing any passerby sees through the window and is a nod to the exhibit’s central theme and ultimate goal—to quell visitor’s anxieties and be a place of affirmation and positivity.

Five blank painters’ easels are lined up in the front as if on display, but they’re actually for the museum’s paint night, a two-hour painting session that urges guests to be their own artists. Flutter hosts events such as these (others include meditation and yoga sessions) that fall into their themes of “meditation” and “play”.

The emanating glow from a series of rectangular structures designed by artist Andre Herrero are enough to attract passersby who wander in, curious about the exhibit.

Ticket proceeds benefit the Lady Gaga-led Born This Way Foundation, which supports the mental health and emotional wellness of teens. In addition to raising money for this cause, Flutter has an even more ambitious aim — to be an art space “where people can play or heal,” according to its founder Chris Dowson. At the center of Flutter’s aim is “making contemporary art more accessible, fun and appealing,” says Dowson. Other more traditional museums “can feel intimidating” he says. “At Flutter, the artist has given us a way of interacting with him or her. And that gives us a reason to play.”

Pay the $32 entrance fee (we’ll return to that steep price tag later) and take off your shoes because this is no ordinary museum. It’s more like you’re entering a home or the play place of a McDonald’s, which can feel either intimate or childish, both of which may serve the goals of the Flutter Experience. Behind the black curtains separating the lobby from the rest of the museum, is the chance to rediscover your inner child and inner peace.

(Photo by Leah Guadagnoli IG:@lavenderladysupreme)

The concept of Flutter sounds like simple child’s play and is very much in vogue with other museums such as the Selfie Museum, Museum of Ice Cream and Candytopia, but the contemporary artists behind these rooms are globally renowned and have been in the likes of the Guggenheim, Museum of Contemporary Art, and MoMA. Contributing artists include Jillian Mayer, whose work explores the relationship between humans and technology, and has had works displayed at the Guggenheim museums in New York, Venice, Bilbao and Berlin and MoMA PS1 in New York; Jacolby Satterwhite, whose surrealist virtual reality work has been exhibited at the MoMa New York; and Katie Stout who has a permanent collection at SFMOMA.

Dowson says that by inviting these artists into a setting like Flutter, guests can now interact with their art in a way they normally can’t. “When we go inside, the artists have given us something to do.”

Some of the art in Flutter is so beautiful or interesting that you’ll want to Instagram it or maybe do a Boomerang, but one room by Brooklyn-based multimedia artist Katie Stout actually turns the interactive art museum experience on its head by filling her section with trash sculptures. Her installation “Sphinx For My Garden” features a light pink sphinx sculpture; an “Arc de Trash” constructed out of empty La Croix cans, plastic bags and discarded art supplies; and a photo stand-in constructed from more accumulated waste.

The work is humorous and points out the absurdities of Instagram selfie culture, though its aim may be lost on some visitors. Docents remind visitors when they’re taking photos that they’re posing in front of garbage. Even so, that doesn't stop people from pausing in front of the “Arc de Trash” and the photo stand-in for selfies.

While people are encouraged to share their merriment at Flutter on social media, Dowson says that he wants Flutters’ visitors to walk away with a healthier relationship with social media and the Internet.

Dowson says that after observing the cultural phenomenon of pop-up museums being primarily a place to produce social media content like selfies and hashtags, he wanted to improve upon that concept. “I felt like we could create a space that is appealing to everybody and looks like a great place to take photos but is also meaningful and thoughtful.”

During the visit, docents explain the underlying message of each work, leaving visitors to contemplate a little more than they would have on their experience of each exhibit. The wry humor in “Sphinx for My Garden” extends to its adjoining room whose walls are plastered in quirky, watercolor paintings of nude girls, which are representations of the artist’s friends. The characters on the wall are brought to life in life-sized doll form on the floor, where you can lounge amongst them. While the intent for relaxation is there (dolls are satiny soft), whether or not it actually feels comfortable is questionable (how many people have laid here?).

(Photo by Flutter Experience)

Perhaps it is the juxtaposition of pastel colors and soft fabric to the paintings of girls in bawdy poses, or the artist’s request that visitors choose which girl on the wall represents them most that illustrates Stout’s intent to not take yourself seriously. It seems as if Stout’s illustrations are a symbol of liberation and disregard of patriarchal social norms, all the while remaining playful and childish.

Another contributing artist, Jillian Mayer, is known for her work that explores the relationship between humans and technology. One of her previous works “Slumpies” are uncomfortable sofa-like structures made of fiberglass for people to lay on as they scroll through their phone. The message behind it is that comfort is unnecessary when one is glued to technology. But for Flutter, Mayer created an experience that encourages viewers to put down their phones and engage with the art instead. Her sound bath installation, “Chime Time” consists of a cluster of metal chimes in a vibrant room that resembles the splashes of color from her “Slumpies” sculptures. Visitors are supposed to stand in the middle of the chimes while another person hits the metal pipes, bathing the subject in soothing frequencies.

While some rooms like “Chime Time” invoke meditative activities, others are more whimsical in nature. “Dark Eclipse,” by Liz Collins, a New York-based textile artist, falls into this latter category. Inspired by the film “Liquid Sky,” in which aliens invade the New York punk subculture, Collins created a room reminiscent of an 80’s club with leather walls and draping string cords. As an addendum, there is a vanity room lit only with UV light, where visitors can paint each other’s faces with the provided blacklight paint, much like the characters in “Liquid Sky.”

(Picture by Jillian Mayer IG: @jillianmayer)

The Flutter Experience aims to create more of this meaningful content as well as encourage visitors to, “follow artists that you love on social media and share art that has impacted you and is meaningful and positive,” says Dowson. Hopefully, patrons will feel like “they’ve just had a really like nice long massage or an excellent meal or that they feel nourished and kind of calm.”

But can art really have the fulfilling effect Dowson touts? Research has shown that art benefits mental health in a variety of ways. A recent report from the World Health Organization concluded that, “engaging in activities such as dancing, singing, visiting museums, and attending concerts provides an added dimension to how people can improve their physical and mental health.”

Also, the practice of prescribing museum visits to patients with anxiety, depression and other mental health issues is just emerging. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA), is a pioneer in this field. In 2018, the MMFA started a year-long pilot program of museum prescription visits and found that they lowered levels of anxiety and depression among its patients, which was stated in an artsy article last year.

Dr. Paige Asawa, Clinical and Academic Program Director for Institute of Arts in Medicine at USC, says the idea behind art therapy “is to really alleviate stress, anxiety and depression through the opportunity to be creative and create artistic production.”

Dr. Asawa explains how something simple like coloring (like in Leah Guadagnoli’s coloring room, “Stay A While”) could have a bigger impact: “The person may experience something through that creative process that they had never experienced before. Now we’ve got ways in the brain where the person can actually go back to those memories to recreate that positive experience for themselves after they leave the museum.”

After exploring Flutter, Julio Gonzalez, one of the strollers who entered the museum earlier, tells me the lack of constraints was refreshing. “You have the freedom to do whatever you want with the pieces and interpret it as you want, so that freedom, I think, is pretty important,” Gonzalez says.

“I thought the coloring room was very relaxing, it makes you feel calm because it’s giving you a task in a non-stressful environment,” USC student Cathy Killedjian said after a class field trip to the Flutter experience.

Others remain unconvinced. Vanessa Gaie, who also attended the trip, agreed that it was a great way to “just breath and have fun,” but said she “doesn’t think she’d pay $30.”

The Flutter Experience exhibit’s steep price also reveals a fundamental problem that plagues the path to better mental health. Traditionally, therapy sessions range from $65 to $250 or more according to GoodTherapy. With insurance, it could be less. However, it begs the question of who gets to benefit from these experiences and treatments.

Another visitor, Becky Sweeney, pointed out that encouraging visitors to post on social media felt contradictory to Flutter’s overall message of creating a healthier social sphere. While the museum’s intentions are positive, it’s hard to say how successful it is at changing our online visual culture.

While Flutter’s social media presence may or may not differentiate itself from other trending interactive exhibits, that might not be the main issue at hand. One could argue that these interactive museums, at the least, offer aspects of interactivity and social connection that enliven visitors.

“The person is literally becoming part of the art. What warmer invitation could there be than that?” said Dr. Asawa.

And the jury is still out on whether art museum experiences alone can completely alleviate anxiety. Studies from the MMFA also reveal that “while some patients showed lower levels of anxiety after their museum visit, others ‘became more anxious, probably because they felt they were not up to par’ […] The success of a doctor-prescribed museum visit rests on how accessible art feels.”

Perhaps, the ultimate impact or effect of Flutter on one’s mental or emotional state is like art itself — subjective. The experience and its effects on well-being depends on the individual.

Some may leave with a sense of inner peace or a feeling of having awakened their inner child, but one thing Dowson hopes patrons experience is something akin to a play date.

“If we're not the person that regularly goes to museums or goes to art galleries or other such spaces…we can leave with the knowledge that we actually just had a fun time,” says Dowson

Flutter has all the makings of a quintessential L.A. Instagram trap, but as an L.A. native and millennial, it does stand out from the crowd. Though the museum’s steep ticket price would probably deter potential visitors from even walking through its doors and its goals, a bit ambitious, the creativity and intent behind Flutter shouldn’t go unnoticed.

The exhibit is careful in its design—the front room is a multi-sensory experience with a “naturally calming scent”, sound-healing symphony and Herrero and Dominican artist Uzumaki-designed art pieces. Every inch of the exhibit rooms are a reflection of its respective artist and is created to either fit the museum’s theme of “play-date” or facilitate meditative or reflective feelings.

Though the biggest gripe one may have about Flutter’s message is whether or not visitors will receive its message at all, that, ultimately, is up to the individual, much like art itself and much like any experience. For a place like Flutter, it may just be about creating a positive experience and a moment for visitors to be present.