Hello, everyone!
It's my first time in this community. Usually, I post my artwork in other Hive communities. But last weekend, I did a new thing, and WEEKEND EXPERIENCES looks like a perfect place to share. So let's jump right in!
As the title implies, the place I visited is called Meow Wolf, The Real Unreal in Grapevine, Texas. There are only four of these MW (Meow Wolf) installations in existence, and as you can imagine, this newest location in Grapevine has been generating a lot of buzz leading up to its mid-July opening. Each location is a unique art immersion, so the experience it provides is truly one-of-a-kind.
My bestie and I planned this mini-adventure weeks ahead of time in June, and we were both excited to go, although we were unsure of what to expect. The billboards and ads were somewhat cryptic!
She and I met about 25 years ago in middle school art class, and all these years later, we both love making art as a hobby. We only meet up a few times a year, and when we do, we usually gravitate towards art-centric activities. 😍 So this visit was perfect for us.
The Real Unreal is inside Grapevine Mills Mall, which is an experience in itself because of how popular it is, especially on the weekends. It totally gives classic early 2000s shopping mall vibes. We went on Saturday afternoon, peak bustling activity time.
On entry, there is a brief intro from a staff member, basically explaining what to do if you become overhwelmed or need to leave, and so on. Then, enter through a nondescript black door into what I can only describe as a sensory overload tour through a collective dream sequence...Or maybe an acid trip? I'm not sure since I've never done anything like that 😅.
Stepping through the door leads to a stage set type of environment, the front lawn of a house at nighttime. From there, it only gets weirder and more curious. Seemingly endless things to see and take in.
The basis of the whole thing is there's a missing 10-year-old boy and all the different areas in the place point to clues of what happened to him.
Bestie, along with other visitors, said it was very reminiscent of the Stranger Things series (another thing I'm not personally familiar with 😶🌫️).
I'm very glad we went and that I got to experience this unique installment. There was that disconnected or untethered type of feeling that happens during a long trip away from home during parts of my time at MW. It really was like being in someone else's mind, and at times it felt jarring or uncomfortable. That must have been the immersive-ness kicking in.
I can only imagine the insane amount of artists' blood, sweat and tears that went into getting The Real Unreal ready for us plebs to enjoy. Every inch of the place is covered with decoration, which was impressive and pretty amazing, considering the scale of the whole exhibit.
One head scratcher is since it's a non-linear self-guided tour, the only way to know you've seen everything is to start realizing you're coming to the same area twice 🫠. To be frank, we left "early" because it just became too much! So, we never did figure out the mystery of what really happened to Jared, but I suspect, "✋️Aliens🤚."
Would I go again? Ehhhh, that's a definite "maybe", as it was truly a barrage of the senses. Visiting another one of MW's installations in the future would be fun, to have a comparison basis. If you find yourself in a MW city, I do recommend taking a few hours to wander through the experience.
Anywho, here's some of the sights from inside Meow Wolf, The Real Unreal:
This was just a sliver of what The Real Unreal has to offer. Again, if you get the chance to go, definitely take it to experience the immersion for yourself. Thank you all for reading! 🧡
All images captured by me, emanate-artworx, with Samsung S21 on 22 July 2023.