Overwhelming! Intriguing!

My Meow Wolf experience

Yowzer! What an experience! It’s not a museum but it is a cultural encounter. Before I share, let me tell you a bit about me because that shaped my visit to Meow Wolf. I’m a rather low-key person. I’m perfectly happy in quiet spaces. I delight in having plans and knowing where I’m going. And, while I love new experiences, I like them packaged with a bit of learning and a bit of guidance as to what I’m seeing and where I’m going.

I visited Meow Wolf in Denver, called Convergence Station, because of a museum board that I was on. As the board of directors, we were beginning to plan a brand-new museum that would blend art and science, and be very interactive. As we did the initial brainstorming, several people said, “A bit like Meow Wolf. Very immersive.” I hadn’t been, so when I was planning my trip to visit museums in Denver, I skimmed the online description and bought a ticket.

My first tip that I might be walking into something a bit outside of my comfort zone came on the Uber ride to Meow Wolf. The driver said, “Have you been before?” He then shared what he knew about Meow Wolf from his time living in Los Angeles. He said that he’d heard that the predecessor to Meow Wolf was a series of short-term pop-up art installations created for weekend festivals, meant to entertain festival-goers who were looking to enhance their drug-fueled weekends. Hmm… He said that when he moved to Denver, he was somewhat shocked when soccer moms with their kids would have him drive them to Meow Wolf. He added that it made sense that Meow Wolf had to expand their audience, but that it gave him pause.

You start your Meow Wolf adventure with an elevator ride. The elevator operator, in a funky futuristic costume, explained that we were about to enter “converged worlds,” and we would “transcend space and time,” and a lot of other words that made me a bit anxious. I’m not a gamer and I’ve read very little science fiction, which I was guessing connected to what she was talking about.

Then, I got out of the elevator. To this!

Yikes. My quiet, low-key self was bombarded. Colors! Sounds! Movement! More colors! More sounds! More movement. I stood still trying to breathe. Then, I began to wander. Wander might be too strong a word. “Wander” suggests a slow progression towards something. However, at Meow Wolf, there is no goal. No path. No plan. No directions. No guidance. No signs.

I walked. I looked. I took pictures. I got lost. Every time I stopped to try and figure out what floor I was on or where to go next, I overheard people saying to each other, “Have we been here before? Did we see that? How do we get over there? What floor is this?”

So, yes, I was overwhelmed. Although, I did hold on to a sense of curiosity. Up stairs. Down stairs. Flashing lights. Funky, striped, animalistic characters with flashing lights for eyes. White textured walls lining both sides of a staircase. Wee windows to peek out of. A bench covered in plastic bags of trash. Multi-colored constellations flashing across the ceiling. A cave with revolving lights and oversized vases of plastic flowers. Giant sized animalistic faces popping out of the wall. A Japanese convenience storefront. Fabric-like textured vines hanging from the ceiling, or was it the walls? A gallery of mirrors with slowly flashing lights that change colors. Undulating red and yellow and purple landscapes. A light-infused castle(ish) structure with changing colors and weird… I mean “intriguing,” sounds.

At one point, I needed to use the restroom. I found someone with a name tag, wearing a futuristic space-infused costume and asked for directions. She kindly walked me in the direction of the correct staircase – which I never would have found on my own. As we walked, she maintained her in-character role, asking me if this was my first time. I’m sure it showed! She added, “We hear that when people visit our worlds for the first time, it can be a bit of a surprise.” I nodded, wondering how she could tell, being that my eyes were rolling around in my head and I was unable to speak!

As I continued my walk, or was it more of a stumble, not knowing where I was going, I passed children sitting on the floor crying, hands over their ears, head between their knees. I was with them in spirit!

Me, Susan, trying to look “normal” rather than off kilter!

Eventually, I had to leave. Had to. I mean, had to!

But I didn’t know where the exit was. I almost panicked. I went back up a set of stairs where I thought I had seen a door. Yes! Down another flight and I was out.

Yes it was overwhelming. Yes it was a bit much for me. But, as for a one-time mind-blowing experience, I’m glad I went.

I do think that if I’d experienced Meow Wolf with someone else, the overwhelming aspect would have been ameliorated. I would have been somewhat distracted from the sensory overload by interacting with another person, discussing what we were seeing, and sharing our thoughts.

Details

It’s four stories and 90,000 square-feet of floor space. More than 300 artists collaborated to create the space, many from Colorado, but also from across the U.S., and even internationally. The artists include painters, sculptors, designers, fabricators, and technologists.

It’s described as four interconnected worlds including - their words not mine - C Street of an ecumenopolis (don’t ask, I don’t know!), the frozen world of Eemia (no clue!), a cosmic superorganism called Numina, (?) and the crystal mines of Ossuary.

They have a large gift shop which I wandered into, and a restaurant which I did not eat at.

How it’s like a museum and not

Museums provide opportunities to step out of our daily life and provide us with moments of curiosity, awe and wonder, and creative inspiration. Meow Wolf is most definitely a way to step out of daily life! And you can be awed, filled with curiosity, and inspired by creative thoughts. At the same time, museums provide us with knowledge, information, and opportunities to discover other cultures. Meow Wolf doesn’t do that.

I do think that the exploration and discovery aspects of Meow Wolf are applicable to museums. Discovery walks could be led by guides or created as an audio tour. Treasure hunts could be developed to discover certain colors, or artists, or shapes. Museums could also create more textural and sensory opportunities.

I’m glad I went once. Would I go again? It’s not on my list but if someone wanted me to go with them, I’d consider it.

NOTE: I understand that many people love Meow Wolf! They find it intriguing, fun, and a delightful experience. Meow Wolf sells annual passes so that people can visit multiple times every year. I don’t mean to discount those visitors. My essay about Meow Wolf is my personal experience based on my personality. If you go, enjoy!

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