It was grey and drizzle in Houston. It's the perfect day to be sucked into another universe.
The mystical statue of the bearded man was covered head-to-toe with pastel shells, barnacles and other sea creatures, attracting the attention of two visitors. One of them, a young boy, said a few words to the microphone, and suddenly the creature began to pulsate and sparkle. The chirp, scoring, sounds and symphonies reminiscent of Hodzilla's songs and pipe organs resonated through the neon-colored coral forest.
Lisa Hlavacek, 35, and her 3-year-old son, Arthur, were visiting Radio Tave, the latest immersive art exhibition by group Meow Wolf. This was Hlavacek's sixth visit since it opened in October last year.
Starting in 2008 as a loose group of artists in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Meow Wolf has grown into a pop culture phenomenon with five permanent installations and a total of over 3 million visitors per year.
As visitors explore Moo Wolf's site, run through secret doors and experiment with various objects, they unravel mysterious backstory, discover clues, hidden places, and some surprises.
The film-themed Los Angeles site is set to open next year, and the group announced plans for a New York location (set to include “Arcade of Another World”) in 2027 or 2028.
Ticket prices vary, but averages around $50 for adults and $37 for children. Plan to budget at least two hours for your visit. Don't be embarrassed when you get inside.
“The best way to experience Meow Wolf is to embrace the unknown with a curiosity and an open mind,” said Erin Barnes, the company's spokesman.
Here you can dive into Meow Wolf Dimension:
Santa Fe, New Mexico
At Meow Wolf's first permanent exhibition, House of Eternal Return, visitors learn from documents such as letters, diaries and newspapers that have developed strange powers, including residents' ability to talk to plants and hop between dimensions.
Opened in 2016, the 20,000-square-foot location is the smallest permanent Meow Wolf exhibition set up at a former bowling alley with financial support from author George RR Martin, known for fantasy novels such as “A Game of Thrones.”
After raw snuggling into a short tunnel through the clothes dryer door, followed by a room where socks were lost, Bruce Thomson, a public relations consultant in Cheyenne, Wyoming, said exploring the house felt like a welcoming rest from reality.
“If you don't mind surrendering to it and looking like a fool, it's a great experience,” he said.
Las Vegas
A surreal supermarket called Omega Mart aims to satirize modern marketing with a corridor filled with bewildering products that destroy consumer culture. (Air Fresh Nurse Spray) and nut-free salted peanuts (seasoning mix).
Opened in 2021 as the second Meow Wolf location, Omega Mart is an anchor attraction in the Entertainment Complex Area 15. Omega Mart's 52,000 square feet contain 60 different sections, ranging from deli cases in stock with tattooed chickens to surveillance walls showing live feeds from around the exhibition, to 24 screens created by more than 325 collaborators.
Denver
The third largest Meow Wolf exhibition, Convergence Station explores the clashes of four alien worlds that have been merged with the cataclysm of the imaginary universe. Visitors wander around the “quantum transport hub,” which houses 90,000 square feet of wormholes and portals, spreading across four levels, exploring the mysteries flowing between four interconnected worlds.
For $3, travelers can purchase the optional QPass, a public transport style tap card. This collects “memory” (aka story elements) on the website or on-site “memory ATM” and reviews it on the on-site “memory ATM” which shows the visual charts connected to each area.
“The new spaces we entered had, each new space had a lot of different small, fortune cookie styles to explore and unravel,” said Bryant Hall, a bank executive in Ousai, Colorado, who took her daughter, Grace, to her 12th birthday. They especially enjoyed poking around the pontoon boat, which served as a research vessel for Cryptozoologists who hunted Yawlp, an elusive garbage-eating monster that suffers from social anxiety.
Grapevine, Texas
The true unrealistic, 28,000 square feet near Dallas, focuses on the story of a boy who goes missing after chasing a strange creature. Visitors explore the boy's house and search for clues for his loss. They are quickly transported to the real, unrealistic. An alternative universe filled with strange life forms like Melby moves the top of an alien traveling through sewer pipes to emerge from the powder blue toilets in the bathroom decorated with flower wallpaper.
Other real, unrealistic ways include carnivorous caves filled with perceptive, hungry plants, and Baba Yaga Hat, home to witches who help and eat evil children.
Houston
Radio Tave is realistic, but radio tape, a 30,000-square-foot radio station, is transported to another dimension (“Tave” means hoping dimensions with Meow Wolfpeak) focuses on auditory effects and melodic soundscapes. Visitors can create their own sound using traditional instruments such as bongo drums in the station's recording studio, or using unexpected interfaces such as small statues of Imps, home to now digitized home cats, or missing elaborate control panels.
It also includes a bearded statue covered in marine life that will please Hlavacek and her son.
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