Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
Meow Wolf: Please Open All Drawers and Doors
If you have a chance to visit a Meow Wolf installation near you, by all means go…and hang on to your hats, it can be a bit of a wild ride.
After reading Bill’s post regarding a museum in Belgium that presents artwork in an unusual fashion, I couldn’t help but think about my visit to Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A friend of mine thought I would enjoy the experience and here’s what I knew: it was set up by artists and it had a story line dealing with a top government scientist and his family that went missing. I was open to whatever might happen next.
Meow Wolf’s converted warehouse was full of energy with families, young kids, teenagers, and adults all taking part in various experiences, playing with and on the installations, and the staff encouraging everyone try and solve the mystery of the missing family, and to please touch everything, open drawers and doors, and have fun. These instructions fit nicely with the Meow Wolf mission, “Meow Wolf champions otherness, weirdness, challenging norms, radical inclusion, and the power of creativity to change the world.” There is something for everyone in Meow Wolf, but perhaps not a lot of peace and quiet.
However, things they have done in the name of art and fun offer some important interpretive possibilities that I think could liven up even the most staid museum, historical or even natural site…if you are willing to challenge the norms and allow some otherness to seep into the site.
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
Philosophy
I was also impressed with the philosophy they took toward the importance of art and artists. “Meow Wolf firmly believes that accomplished artists must be compensated on an equal level with other skilled, in-demand professionals, and that successful businesses must give back to — and participate energetically in — their communities. We provide financial assistance, expertise, and other forms of active support and we are excited to support innovative, community-focused art and social projects.”
A movie produced by Meow Wolf chronicles their unique approach to the development of the space in Santa Fe and a trailer on the web site is definitely worth watching. The movie is for sale and is one way they raise funds for the artists.
Radical Design
From an EID perspective, I was fascinated by the design process that took place in Santa Fe. After obtaining a large warehouse everyone worked together to come up with the layout and design of the space. This included the artists, tradesman, architects, engineers, designers, and anyone else involved in the project. Though I am pretty sure this process had its ups and downs, it certainly was inclusive and allowed various perspectives to be considered. The group had definite outcomes in mind and yet there is a sense of freedom and joy embedded in the space.
This approach is what EID advocates in the design process at preservation, collection and historical recognition sites when new spaces or exhibitions are being planned. Get the Interpretive Designers involved from the very beginning to help embed mission-based, experiential outcomes for the visitors before a building is designed. Then when it is clear what you want visitors to leave with it will be easier to design a building or space or a trail. All too often the process is donation – design – build – interpretation. EID advocates donation – interpretation – design – build, or even better interpretation - donation – design – build.
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
Interpretive Design From the Beginning
A recent EID project is a good example of how using the Interpretive Design perspective at the beginning could have provided a better visitor arrival experience. The site in question is about 90 minutes from a large metropolitan area and is quite unique in its mission with a strong set of outcomes. However, when most folks arrive and park the first thing they will need to do is get comfortable – and that means finding a bathroom. No amount of impressive interpretation is going to happen before the bladders are emptied.
But where are the closest bathrooms? In the main building, of course, on the other side of the ticket office. There is no way to have any meaningful introduction to the site between the car park and the visitor’s centre because a rest room is needed. After a certain level of comfort is restored, the visitor then returns to the front of the building and purchases a ticket — then they are ready for some interpretation. Bathrooms near the car park are now a distant afterthought. I’m not saying the current situation can’t work, but if an interpretive designer had been involved before construction plans, maybe a different introduction to the place and its mission before visitors entered the building could be a possibility.
Nooks and Crannies, Surprises and Allowing Otherness
Yes, lots of big things happen at Meow Wolf, and there are also some small touches that I found intriguing as an interpretive designer. One place was a windowed room with a table and chairs and some information on the “missing family” that I casually walked by. All of a sudden from behind a wall next to the room a couple appeared and continued on their way. To my delight I discovered a small, secret space between the room and the main wall with a one-way window where I could watch people in the room. What fun to do a bit of unnoticed watching.
I immediately began to think how this secret space could benefit an historical site. What if you could secretly watch Martha and George Washington at Mt. Vernon discussing the day’s events. Or maybe the farm overseer arrives to talk about the need for a few more slaves to run the plantation (now there’s a way to introduce a difficult topic around America’s first president). Real people could portray the parts, or, in this day and age, holographic figures could act out various scenes.
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
Not too far from this false wall was a small balcony hidden behind a curtain that overlooked the main floor. A bit of peace and quiet was available in this space while observing visitors interacting with the various installations below. In busy natural and cultural sites, a bit of reflective space would be a welcomed relief from all the hustle and bustle…and it doesn’t have to be much of a space, just a little something out of the way. I welcomed the pause and a chance to just observe.
Photo Credit: Kate Russell, Courtesy of Meow Wolf
Doors and Drawers
A couple of surprises I liked were in the kitchen and laundry room of the “missing” family. As some visitors read a “newspaper” on the kitchen table about the family, others opened cabinets and drawers looking for clues. Then someone opened the refrigerator door and disappeared. This I had to try. Sure enough, open the door to the fridge and a bright light partially obscured the fact that you could walk right in and enter another room (I felt like I was in the Monty Python movie “The Meaning of Life”). What a delightful surprise! Couldn’t a science museum use a similar unexpected experience to keep folks interested in what might happen next – like splitting an atom and entering a new “world” on the other side.
In the laundry room the kids had already discovered the dryer. If you dove in head-first a slide took you into a different room. It was a tight squeeze, but I did make it. Surely it is OK to have some “just for fun” spots to move people about in any interpretive site.
Photo Credit: Kate Russell, Courtesy of Meow Wolf
The Power of Creative Spirit
There is no lack of creative spirit in Meow Wolf. Several gigantic structures greet the visitor near the entrance that can be admired, touched or used to sit beneath and relax.
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
Several interior walls display the artistic flair with paintings and drawings and funny quotes. So often empty wall space is not used to help reinforce the mission and messages of a place, so why not put that space to use where appropriate.
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer
I thoroughly enjoyed the huge dinosaur skeleton suspended from the ceiling in one room that was actually a musical instrument. Using soft mallets, you strike different bones and a musical tone sounds and a light is activated. Definitely more of my kind of fun. I could envision something similar in a natural history museum but instead of musical tones each bone made a different dinosaur sound and a picture of that dinosaur is activated. An intersection between art, science and interpretation.
Photo Credit: Kate Russell, Courtesy of Meow Wolf
My wife discovered a 15-foot narrow, darkened corridor with very thin fabric on each side. She accidentally touched the fabric and it created a line of light. She proceeded to create designs of light on the fabric and spent a good 10 minutes just playing and laughing.
A forest house was available for climbing and each level had different artifacts from the “missing” family. And, of course, you could exit the house and be on another level of the building, or take a slide or stairs down a level. Another great way to create interesting structures that move folks about and still keep true to the message.
Photo Credit: Lindsay Kennedy, Courtesy of Meow Wolf
Meow Wolf was loud, busy, exciting and may not be for everyone, but if you get a chance it is worth the visit. It is fun and provided me with a wealth of ideas. By the way, wondering where the name Meow Wolf came from? Each person working on the project put two of their favorite words into a hat, and the two names drawn out became the name of the experience…thus Meow Wolf.
(Besides the Santa Fe location, other Meow Wolfs are being planned in Denver, Washington, D.C., and Phoenix)
Photo Credit: Mike Mayer