MEOW WOLF EOPENS

Two new installations refresh 'House of Eternal Return’

Meow Wolf reopened last week with two new installations in the ongoing narrative at its House of Eternal Return on Rufina Circle.

Meow Wolf closes every year in the latter part of January to enhance the exhibition.

The House of Eternal Return isa fixed exhibition that largely stays the same, but the artists’ collective behind the local phenomenon keeps coming up with new ideas, said John Feins, Meow Wolf ’s vice president of communications.

Feins estimates the two new installations and other tinkering within the 20,000-square-foot immersive exhibition brought changes to less than 20 percent of the space.

“They are not particularly large spaces,” he said.

Meow Wolf brought in Australian artists Pip & Pop to create a “maximalist psychedelic cave-like work,” with sugar, glitter, candy, artificial flora, crystals and everyday craft materials.

Canadian artist Katie Green reimagined the inside of a water tank as “a world in which fantasy surpasses limitations,” according to materials provided by Meow Wolf.

Meow Wolf prefers to leave the House of Eternal Return to a visitor’s imagination rather than speak specifically about exhibitions.

“We tend not to say a lot about [storyline changes],” Feins said. “We are actively exploring ways to extend the story and keep the space dynamic.”

Meow Wolf keeps evolving around the country as well. The second Meow Wolf art immersion exhibit is expected to open in December in Las Vegas, Nev., as the anchor tenant of the 40-acre Area 15 retail, art and entertainment complex.

The third Meow Wolf installation is slated to open in Denver at the end of 2020 — but the Mile High City will get a sneak peak of Meow Wolf ’s artistic vision. The artist collective is building a slow-moving dark ride called Kaleidoscape at Elitch Gardens Theme and Water Park, which neighbors Meow Wolf ’s Denver property, Feins said.

Kaleidoscape will go into an existing building where a prior ride was located. Meow Wolf describes it as “the world’s first artist-driven dark ride.”

Elitch Gardens is slated for eventual demolition, though that’s likely years away, to make way for a 58-acre development that could create more than 8,000 residences with towers potentially as tall as 59 floors. Groundbreaking on the first phase of the project is possible as soon as 2020, according to the Denver Post.

Meow Wolf is OK with that; the Elitch Gardens ride is a temporary project while the full-fledged Meow Wolf remains under construction.

“This is a chance to give Denver a little Meow Wolf experience [before the primary Meow Wolf opens],” Feins said.

A fourth Meow Wolf location has been announced for Washington, D.C.

ABOVE: Canadian artist Katie Green reimagined the inside of a water tank in one of the new installations at MeowWolf’s House of Eternal Return. ‘We are actively exploring ways to extend the story and keep the space dynamic,’ said John Feins, Meow Wolf’s spokesman.

PHOTOS COURTESY MEOW WOLF Chad Hendley from the Australian artist group Pip & Pop installs a new exhibition at Meow Wolf, which was closed for two weeks into early February to add two new installations.

LEFT: Tim Jag’s expanded art is part of this year’s upgrades to the Santa Fe exhibition.