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A conversation with Phil Jones, Creative Lead at Meow Wolf about art as a commodity, while critiquing the very nature of commodifying art.
Photo by Siouxzen Kang, @siouxzen
Meow Wolf has a tendency to not only go against the grain, but to subvert it completely. This is part of what makes a place like Omega Mart so special and unique. It offers art as a commodity, while critiquing the very nature of commodifying art. It laughs at the commercialization of the art world, while offering high quality products available for purchase. Phil Jones, Creative Lead for Meow Wolf, sees this as a way to always be a little funny while still making good art. Previously working for advertising agencies, Jones knows the ins and outs of that world, one filled with a primary purpose: to tell a story that sells a product. Working with Meow Wolf over the last few years, he’s been able to access storytelling from a totally different perspective and in a way that is creatively fulfilling.
He explained, “We're telling deep, human-connected stories through the lens of stupid products. It's the best because it's all those jokes that you wanted to tell to clients but you could never do. That aspect of it is always kind of fun and honestly, it's like a release for me to be able to finally funnel that lens of absurdity into products. It's ironically almost like an anti-capitalist commentary on a hyper capitalist system.”
This is very much part of the experience at Omega Mart, a supermarket that has “the best prices no matter the cost.” There is an implicit expectation that this is not a typical supermarket and that these products are not your run-of-the-mill offerings. Jones and the team want people to experience Omega Mart as something out of this realm and encourage leaning into that meta state. He said, “My hope is that it just looks so normal, that you accept it as an alternate reality. We want you to get in there and start to see the details and find the humor that we find, but in this very accessible place.”
This is why when the Mysterious Objects of Ritual was released, there was a lot to uncover. The name is deliberate - what is this product exactly? A stapler, for one, but there’s much more to it! There was a creative process to determine what makes something simple… interesting… and has multiple uses, especially when grocery stores offer basic toy selections and school supplies. Jones reflected about growing up with GI Joes and other superhero action figures, how the boxes that the toys were placed inside were detailed, animated and exciting, alluring to any child. But the doll itself, lifeless and kind of… boring. Jones said, “There's no way to really get across that excitement because it's actually imagination that you're playing with - and that really spoke to me.”
This is when Jones and Emily Montoya, co-founder of Meow Wolf, began asking questions about the object like: What does it represent? What mythical powers could it potentially have? This is when they came up with the backstory. Jones explained, “We really fell in love with the idea of an archaeological dig that happens in the future and this archaeological dig finds this office park that has been finally uncovered. You see these beige areas that are blocked out and people would sit in these cubes all day long and they could see the remnants of their work, but they're trying to kind of piece together, like what kind of work did they do? And that becomes the mystery itself - the archeological side of them is trying to figure out, why would this be on their desk?”
This rumination of the past and glorification of a seemingly basic object lead these future archeologists of this realm to put a much greater purpose to a stapler than what it really was: a tool that helped keep papers together. This is the very thing that Jones and Montoya are subtly joking about throughout Omega Mart. Is there really something magical about the past or are we always placing higher value on those who came before us and the things they used? Was an office space a spiritual landmark? What made the corner office so special? There must be meaning!
Jones reflected, “The true irony is that the products are really good, like you can actually use them. I made products for mass retail and I didn't make anything as nice as these egg slides. It's really good work on top of that. So there's that absurdist level, but also, I do want to get it right for the consumer, too. We're making a commentary, but also it’s good stuff. It's a collectible. It's the only aspect of Meow Wolf that people get to go home with outside of memories. They get to take home a piece of us and that piece is through merchandise.”
That’s the purpose and point. There’s a ritualizing of something you discover. You put meaning to a found object or the stuffed animal you grew up playing with saw worlds upon worlds because of the imagination you gave it. Jones said, “Meow Wolf is an invitation to reconstruct your own world as you want it, and to take a pen, a marker, and make it become whatever you want it to be. We take junk and we lift it up. We make it into art. We make statements through ubiquitous objects that we're surrounded by.”
To learn more about Omega Mart and the new Mysterious Objects of Ritual, check out the Shop site here or explore it in person.
