Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

In Colorado Springs artist Matt Barton’s world, a place where foxes talk and treehouses sprout up indoors, viewers are asked to suspend their disbelief — even if just for a moment, says MCA Denver’s Adam Lerner. He knows that’s difficult in a modern society too often driven by cynicism and been-there-done-that attitude, but he’s still hoping that’s what will happen when museum-goers step inside Barton’s I Think I Feel Something, an out-of-this-world installation that simultaneously embraces and sends up new-age therapies and philosophies.

“He really sees the playfulness and the exuberance and the outlandishness of all of that sacred stuff,” Lerner notes. “But on the other hand, he also wants to believe. He wants to present it in as sympathetic a way as possible.”

Step into Barton’s touchy-feely world — which includes crystal therapy, pineal-gland activation centers, a structure where you can stimulate your chakras alongside a bunch of complete strangers and even a sparkling water feature — and see how long you can enjoy the experience without being overcome by a 21st-century sense of irony. Tonight’s public reception (which coincides with an out-door Underground Music Showcase performance by Fort Frances) goes from 8 to 11 p.m. at the MCA, 1485 Delgany Street. Admission is free for members and a dime for everyone else. I Think I Feel Something runs through October 5; get more information at mcadenver.org or call 303-298-7554.

Fri., July 25, 8-11 p.m.; Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: July 25. Continues through Oct. 5, 2014