“It's like, ‘Okay, well, here's this thing.’ We're trying to get the bias as close as possible, just like any other art piece, but still, it takes on its own life and becomes part of the place where it lives.” It belongs to the planet now, you know?” says Geary. They maintain ownership and the spiritual responsibility of seeing Meow Wolf’s collective vision through, but it seems that for the first time since they came up with the concept.they’re ready to let it go. With the growth and success of Meow Wolf, both co-founders are now in positions of leadership amongst their peers. When Montoya and Geary look at their own reflections after creating the third version of Omega Mart, they’ll no longer see trash-collecting artists. Photo by Caitlin LeMoine 2021 Peanut Butter and Jelly and Whatnot Geary: “It's always shepherding it into this mid-ground of ambiguously embracing and denouncing, simultaneously, because that's culture's relationship with a good grocery store.” ‘There's something out there for a person like me.’ But then it's like, ‘Oh, actually it's really creepy that my identity is being co-opted and sold back to me to try to reinforce my own conception of who I am, in this weird ouroboros kind of situation.’ That is always endlessly fascinating: what stories we tell to ourselves, culturally, being reflected on the shelves in so many different ways.” This is catered to you and your identity.’ The feeling of comfort. Just seeing the efforts to make the products more and more niche for people. Montoya: “I also realized how large of a role grocery stores have in shaping the stories we tell ourselves about our own identities. That's been your outlet, your release, your cultural observance. Geary says, “Even if you're in Los Angeles or New York, your main outing, at least for the last year, has been the grocery store. Yet, in current times, the way Americans are experiencing grocery stores is changing. The ways Montoya and Geary describe their experience creating Omega Mart is the best description of the result itself. It was pretty much a glorified yard sale.”ĭramcorp receptionist. It was like taking gallon jugs of milk and filling them with colored paints. Montoya adds, “That first one was really saving our trash, saving our detergent bottles and freezer meals, and then using the home inkjet printer and printing out label designs on paper, and also wrapping existing boxes in paper. It was in one of those meetings, Emily brought it up like, ‘What if we just did a grocery store? That would be so fun!’ And everyone's like, ‘Oh my god, what if we did? That would be really funny. “We'd have these weekly meetings with everybody once we finished a show. “Initially, yeah, it was kind of a joke,” Geary states. The newest iteration of this highly-anticipated project anchors Las Vegas’ entertainment and retail complex AREA15, the original experience of Omega Mart was quite different. Portals lead to unexpected, art-filled landscapes where immersed shoppers can uncover the narrative behind Omega Mart and its parent company, Dramcorp. Omega Mart participants are greeted with an extraordinary supermarket featuring surreal products like Tattoo Chicken and Influence in a Bottle. Signage of Omega Mart 1 on the corner of Hopewell & 2nd Street, Santa Fe, 2009 It’s a result of contributions from over 100 international and local artists - in addition to sub-contractors and Meow Wolf’s internal staff, which has grown significantly since the collective’s “Warehouse on Hopewell” days. Omega Mart is the title and the stage-setter for Meow Wolf’s second permanent installation in Las Vegas, which opened on February 18, 2021. “Take out the ‘O’ and the ‘M’,” Geary finishes her thought. I was just loving that kind of weird, almost culty energy that comes out of it and thinking… ’Omega.Omega Mart.’ And then just being like, ‘Oh shit! It also says ‘mega art’ if you look at it!” I know I was really feeling that, and every time I looked in a grocery store window it was like, ‘End of Days Sale! Final Sale!’” Montoya remembers, “At the time, I felt like it was already ramping up toward these sort of apocalyptic, 2012 vibes. When we first broach the topic, a familiar theme to recent times arises: “Final Days.” Biome Neuro Orb, Photo by Quinn Tincher 2008Ī year later, 2009, the original iteration of Omega Mart was conceptualized while Meow Wolf was cutting its teeth at their famed warehouse on Hopewell Street.
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