Is gaudy colors or a disadvantaged background sufficient to call an art project to our attention? (I hope not.)
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"For people like Fisher, the improbably named Meow Wolf has emerged as the great experiential-economy hope; the company’s most enthusiastic boosters claim that it’s poised to become the Disney of the 21st century."
So it'll start trying to ruthlessly lobby for infinite copyrights to use against other artists and video posters, and then shove their own art into a vault? Not what I hope for...
In my humble opinion, this is a nightmare, not art.
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You are not punk, just because you dress a certain way.
I know Meow Wolf members. It's more accurate to declare that they were born out of the DIY community, but they embody none of the ideas of Punk.
Expansionism is the furthest from Punk.
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This reminds me of what Rodney Greenblat was doing in New York in the Eighties.
It is amazing these days how fast counterculture becomes monetized mainstream culture. I'm an artist, living in Colorado, and I have zero interest in going to MeowWolf here. Just seems like a super-crowded and overhyped amusement park.
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Art thou or art thou not? $10 suggested donation? $125,000 in cash collected under the bed? Just where is the line between art, business, capitalism -- and the tax-subsidized nonprofit world??
There's nothing more frustrating for an art student to realize that they can't draw, paint or sculpt.
We went to Santa Fe a couple of years ago and our Uber driver told us to check out Meow Wolf. That was all he said except that we definitely shouldn't pass it up. So we checked it out. We didn't follow the story or try to figure out the mystery, but it was ever-present (the vision of a tiny body floating way down inside a toilet, the vortex in the dining room ceiling). We spent a few hours there and thoroughly enjoyed the immersive interactive experience (the full-size dinosaur skeleton with ribs that sound like a xylophone for you to play with soft hammers, the chapel with its fresco that changes images as the light color changes, the dance rooms). However, I worry about the expanded brand as there was certainly a charmingly naive sensibility projected throughout--whether real or not--that was part of the attraction.
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Definitely interesting to get a view of Meow Wolf and Santa Fe from a journalist from Marfa. Those of us living here of all ages, races, and persuasions have various views of our small City, but I for one have not heard our elders (and I am of elder age) viewed as stodgy. As an artist and instructor in Santa Fe, I have the opportunity to intermingle with many interesting people from diverse backgrounds that include people born here whose families go back many generations from all parts of New Mexico, people who have lived here for many years from other locations, students who come here to from all over the country and the world to get a degree from the Institute of Indian Arts, and newcomers who come and take my classes at Santa Fe Community College. Also, as I currently teach at The Institute of Indian Arts, I see amazing native contemporary art in school and in galleries and museums around town that may or not be on Canyon Road. I think Ms Monroe, the in-depth article about Meow Wolf gives the reader an honest view of the company, but your clear dislike of Santa Fe as a place to live and visit comes through without much thought, interest, or incite. I expect better from a journalist.
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Saying that Santa Fe "skews whiter" than the US as a whole is a bit misleading, as that does not account for the large population of folks who identify as Hispanic. I grew up in Santa Fe and would agree that it is an "odd" place to do that, but I fail to see how the city being populated with old people makes it the "essential ingredient" to Meow Wolf's existence. The author suggests that the Meow Wolf founders were rebelling against this old-white majority, calling up images of grumpy retirees who dominate city life. But in reality, most of the old people I knew growing up in Santa Fe were pretty cool, pretty inspiring, pretty weird, and very supportive of young people pursuing their creative aspirations.
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Hey, hey, hey. 'In the middle of this stodgy old-person’s town'? Hello? It's us stodgy old people who support Meow Wolf by bringing our young adult children, grandchildren and out-of-town guests of all ages to Meow Wolf several times a year —and crawling through the fireplace with the best of them.
I've been through Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. It's mildly amusing if you have some knowledge of science fiction. Kind of a community art project writ large. Nice to see a non-corporate public amusement though, a little reminiscent of old weird America.
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