Metaworm

Omega Mart / Meow Wolf Las Vegas

A living painting that explores the emergence of digital life

Metaworm is an immersive installation at Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, located in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. The room-sized sculpture integrates into Meow Wolf’s broader context, playing into the exhibition’s central narrative; artistically the work explores the emergence of artificial nature through abstraction. Using a blend of physical fabric in motion with interactivity, generative graphics and sound, the media transcends reality when it mushrooms into a billow of chaotic flurry that feels lifelike.

Using overhead camera-tracking, the artwork responds as visitors approach. Getting close causes the creature to become more and more unsettled. As it struggles between digital and physical reality, the motion design transitions to abstract and fluid, erupting into a dazzling array of colors and sounds.

As a technology researcher I’ve long been interested in the interplay of natural and artificial systems. Metaworm evolved through my creative explorations as an artist, and my desire to design and build generative media systems that are expressive. For me, systems become most fascinating when they lead to surprising emergent phenomena—  transcending the medium into sublimity.

In 2016 I was introduced to Meow Wolf, when I visited Santa Fe to show work at the Currents New Media Art Festival. I was immediately impressed by their House of Eternal Return installation, as well as their collaborative spirit. It was a tremendous honor to later be invited to submit a concept to their second permanent location. It was a true pleasure to work with Meow Wolf and interact with the various members of their team on all stages of the project. I remain extremely grateful to have participated in the Omega Mart, alongside so many other incredible artists.

Through an iterative design process I tested different materials and prototypes. My goal was for the audiences to experience a sense of suspended disbelief in regards to the reality of what they were experiences. By using live projection mapped fabric in motion—driven by wind—inside the confines of a darkened room, viewers are met with a surreal sculptural form that is intentionally difficult to parse. To further emphasize a sense of danger, and that the entity is potentially dangerous living being, we enclosed a gated structure, emblematic of a zoo attraction.

https://credits.meowwolf.com/omega-mart/dramcorp/metaworm