When critic Ben Davis coined the term “Big Fun Art” in response to Meow Wolf, people were already lining up for another Kusama infinity room and selfie-friendly exhibition the power of the single artwork had been eroding in museums for years. A carefully curated Monet exhibition? No, we need 100 Monets! Rare Japanese prints? Boring. The classist statement is ridiculous because Meow Wolf teaches the public nothing. I was surprised to watch the room nod in agreement, especially since it was hard to find an artist in Denver who was not at some stage of a proposal to work with the company that year. Meow Wolf’s latest franchise in Denver, Convergence Station (image courtesy Kate Russell and Meow Wolf)Īt a 2018 symposium in Denver on artist-run spaces that included gallery representatives from Regina Rex (now closed), Good Weather, and the multi-city network Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Los Angeles-based artist Alex Paik argued that Meow Wolf is damning for artists because it teaches the public that amusement is art. When I was approached with greetings that lacked the charisma of players at a local Renaissance fair, I realized they were performers and I was never able to recapture the sense of immersion. Meow Wolf encourages visitors to turn every wheel, pull every lever, and reveal a new space behind every door, which creates the impression that we are all curious explorers on a pilgrimage. It was all lovely until I noticed people milling around in straw rain coats. There were balconies overlooking a full-sized chapel and a labyrinth of interesting interactive rooms. From there I somehow arrived at an expansive garden that was like a Rainforest Café managed by Guillermo del Toro. The space was initially confusing, with no apparent route or purpose, but I eventually found an art gallery that accessed a corridor of television sets. I selected an elevator that opened to a futuristic urban street. Like any concourse, travelers have a few gates to choose from. For the sake of journalism, I masked up and traveled to another time on another planet, where unions are unwelcome and inflation is rampant, with the admission price of $45. The latest portal is a transportation hub, perfect for a site wedged among a freeway ramp, a highway, and a byway to the Broncos football stadium. In Santa Fe, visitors enter the multiverse through a home, and in Las Vegas it’s a grocery store. Meow Wolf’s immersive schtick is back in business as it opens a new 90,000-square-foot Denver franchise. DENVER - “Do you have a vape pen or invisible gun?” the security guard asked, looking in my bag as I walked through a metal detector.
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