Surreal Pricing was activated to increase engagement and attendance for the Art

Institute of Chicago’s Magritte Exhibit. To do that we needed a promotion that opened his work to a new audience, but did it in a way that matched the intent of his work. The result was Surreal Pricing. For one day the museum allowed people to pay admission by contributing their own piece of surreal art. Collected artworks were then curated by the museum, with the best submissions exhibited as part of the show. The promotion achieved it’s aim of getting a new audience to experience the show, drew crowds and increased attendance, and, most importantly, did it in a way that was relevant to the artist and show it was promoting.

For years the museum experience had remained the same. The Unthink Magritte App changed it,

and gave people a new way to participate with Magritte’s work.

Instead of experts telling you what the art meant, through the app people could contribute their own interpretations of the work through text, pics and audio narration.

Through these contributions, people actually became part of the official museum audio tour.

The contributions were also pushed to social media, giving people who couldn’t attend the show a way to participate.

The museum experience had become as participatory as Magritte’s work.

The event drew lines around the block. People contributed countless pieces during the event, more than enough to create an adjacent exhibit. The effort helped expand the museum’s audience and increased attendance. The exhibit hit almost 300,000 in paid attendance, a 12% increase from last summer’s exhibit. The promotion also contributed to the Art Institute of Chicago being named Trip Advisor’s #1 museum in the world.