Too Many Secrets - A NYC Bodega Experience
Bodega 245 is (was) a fascinating popup experience that potentially robbed many attendees of its greatest moment of spectacle, in defense of secrecy
Last year Taylor Swift launched The Tortured Poet’s Department with a massive experiential campaign that I wrote about for ARGNet…what I didn’t mention in that coverage is that I pre-gamed the album release by going to an immersive speakeasy popup called Bodega 245. The event was held at Tom Sachs’ studio in Manhattan as a collaboration with N.D. Austin, and intentionally disclosed nothing about the event. Tickets came with the disclaimer, “Keep us safe…no posting or sharing until it’s over.” I’ve been wanting to talk about this experience ever since…Bodega 245’s domestic operations ended at the end of last year - and since Bodega 245 shared a lot of its secrets prior to shipping off to Asia, I feel like it should be safe to finally post those thoughts.
The Bodega 245 Experience, At Its Core
First, some background: Tom Sachs’ Bodega has been around for a while - back in 2016, Fox News was able to go on a tour of the facility for a news segment about the studio, highlighting the working storefront’s dedication to selling both functional and whimsical products at the storefront. N.D. Austin also came to this project with quite a history, throwing wildly creative, frequently transgressive, and technically illegal speakeasy events delivering cocktail experiences ranging from “Threesome Tollbooth”, a speakeasy for two guests and the bartender, to “The Night Heron”, a speakeasy in an abandoned water tower.
The experience was very much an homage to both backgrounds, with the interior-exterior of Bodega acting as a museum for many of N.D. Austin’s past parties, while acting as yet another speakeasy in that creative legacy. I can’t speak much on the cocktails themselves beyond saying I really enjoyed them (both because I’m not much of a drinker and because this happened over a year ago), but it was fascinating walking around the space and seeing artifacts of past parties. I was particularly taken by the “Art Crime Tools” wall, a display of tools for finding your way into places you weren’t intended to access.
“Breaking Into” the Speakeasy within a Speakeasy
There was even a fun “puzzle” built into the experience - the interior of the Bodega acted as a speakeasy-within-a-speakeasy-within-an-art-studio…but only if you could find the combination to the door, hidden on a pole at the other side of the venue.
There’s something surreal about a speakeasy existing behind the counter of another functioning establishment, and having to “earn” your way in made it all the more magical.
One of the highlights of the Bodega 245 experience is Tom Sachs’ unique delivery mechanic for the event’s commemorative zine, Art Crime Academy. Behind the Bodega, there was a working ATM, with a $5 convenience charge. That convenience charge was well earned, because as long as you requested a print receipt, the machine would print out a comically large printout that could be assembled into the zine, following instructions secured to the bodega with binder clips.
This zine also served as an impromptu scavenger hunt / guide to the museum items on display, encouraging visitors to locate the 18 items featured inside. But honestly, the experience of printing a zine using an ATM’s convenience charge as the fee still stays with me to this day as one of the more brilliant ways of delivering surprise and delight.
All told, Bodega 245 delivered a marvelous experience in a compact space, that could be experienced in about an hour. And that’s where we come to my only complaint about the experience. Because the highlight of the night was still 90 minutes away, and very few people in the room were aware of that fact.
When Your Secret is So Secret People Leave Early
Going in, I had no idea what type of experience this would be - art installation, immersive theater, illegal speakeasy that would get me arrested before I could listen to The Tortured Poet’s Department…and because of that, I picked up an admission ticket for the earliest entry time for the event - 9pm. A new batch of guests would be admitted to the speakeasy every 30 minutes, until around 11pm. The ATM was broken for the first hour or so that night, but I still managed to get what I’d consider a “full experience” by around 10:30pm.
But while I was wandering around, I noticed something odd resting on his piano. Look back up at that photo from earlier - can you spot it?
That’s right, a series of Peeps were strategically positioned around the table - and a little bit of aluminum foil lined one of the edges of the piano, too. Curious, I struck up a conversation with the pianist during a break and asked him why the Peeps were there. Cryptically, he responded with something to the effect of “if you leave tonight before you have an answer to that question, you’ve left too early.” And that man saved my night.
Without that hint, I likely would have called it a night after exploring the experience / installation, and gone home to listen to The Tortured Poet’s Department when it dropped at midnight. And based purely on anecdotal memory, I think I saw about half the crowd do just that (whether or not Taylor Alison Swift was a motivating factor). But, I stayed. And mingled. And pored over just about every square inch of the venue.
Until 11:30 rolled around, and they threw a lit match on the Peep to set the piano on fire before wheeling it out into the street, and closing the night out with a raucous performance that found the flames transferring to more than a few hats before a fire extinguisher closed out the night’s festivities.
Every single aspect of Bodega 245 was kept a secret, during its eight month runtime in the United States. And with the framing that the event had “a new guest clerk every week”, what I described above might bear no resemblance to what attendees experienced in May, let alone what happened in the fall or winter.
But that means “do you get to see the flaming piano show” is something that rests solely on your dedication to sticking around for the end of the night after thinking you’ve seen it all, or on friends who recommended the show offering not-so-subtle hints to stick around to the end.
Don’t Let Secrecy Around Spectacle Detract from the Experience Itself
This is something I see all too often across the various corners of immersive entertainment - creators are so dedicated to preserving the surprise of their marquis moment of spectacle, that they don’t just keep the secret themselves: they urge attendees to keep the secret themselves. Which means attendees don’t talk explicitly about the experience. Which makes it harder to recommend it to friends.
Many creators who do this are aware that they’re sacrificing potential word of mouth in order to preserve mystique, and that’s a tradeoff they happily make. But I don’t think many of them realize that they also risk impacting the audience experience of those who do come, with those secrets. Would “stay to the end for a dramatic finale” have been sacrificed that much artistic vision? Especially if it means more audience members would actually stay to see that vision?
Even now, I wonder if documenting this experience is going against the artistic demand, “No posting or sharing until this is over.” Does this transparency have a negative impact on the experience’s new home, wherever that may be?
To be clear: I had a marvelous time at Bodega 245, and some of its creative flourishes will stick with me for years to come. But I don’t believe those flourishes depended on secrecy to be brilliant, and some of that secrecy actively prevented people from getting to experience one of the bodega’s biggest highlights.