Art and Technology Come Together at the Mercer Labs

You can’t miss the Mercer Labs, aka Museum of Art and Technology at 21 Dey Street in lower Manhattan. Its name in large grey letters — MERCER LABS — towers over passersby as the equally towering windows provide a peek into this 36,000 square foot creative space offering an experience like no other.

Throughout the three floors of interactive exhibit rooms, guests are given the opportunity to let their imaginations soar along with the creative mind of featured artist and museum co-founder, Roy Nachum.  With a lengthy list of talents including painter, sculptor, and fashion designer, Nachum is also behind the fifteen innovative, multi-dimensional “shows” that combine art and technology with light and sound.  The exhibits are the “physical manifestation of the artist’s dream, a journey through his psyche, his childhood memories, and his vision of nature.”  

Each room has a purpose and is given a simple title. Take the room called “game” with its giant chessboard and movable pieces that can slide across the floor as a light show plays under our feet.  Or the “archetype” where guests view a robot with a hypnotic sweeper arm playing in the sand.

In the room called “pneumatic transmission,” guests can stay for as long as they wish to view what appears to be a network of pipes and pulsating lights. There is very little description as to the purpose or intent of each room, allowing visitors to experience it on their own terms, and each taking away what is meaningful to them.  This exhibit, we learn, is “redefining the viewer’s experience.”

Those familiar with the area may remember the building as the former Century 21 department store.  This successful combination of Nachum’s creative vision, with his partner, real estate developer, Michael Cayre, has not only repurposed this legendary space in downtown NYC, but transformed the museum-going experience. 

For more information, go to the website.

Photos by MJ Hanley-Goff