I kinda knew what to expect when I visited Omega Mart, the popular, immersive, interactive art experience at Area15 in Las Vegas. It invites guests into the familiar surroundings of a supermarket only to send them on a fever dream-like journey that takes them well beyond the produce and health & beauty aisles. Presented by the Meow Wolf artists collective, which has locations around the country, I was anticipating clever exhibits that draw on traditional art, such as sculpture and painting, as well as some of the razzle-dazzle found in theme park attractions. I was not disappointed. I didn’t think I’d find myself in fits of laughter, however. It turns out that the more than 300 artists and designers behind the trippy experience are not only talented and inventive in their respective media, they are also wildly funny.
Case in point: The bonkers flavors listed on the cases of sparkling water neatly stacked at one of the aisle endcaps include “New Car” and “Dispassion Fruit.” Aisle markers include “Cereal,” “Adult Cereal,” and “Surreal,” and choices include “Oh, Those,” a Lucky Charms-inspired product with multi-colored marshmallows shaped like screws, coins, sauce packets, and other stuff found in junk drawers. The package proudly proclaims that it is “The Original Junk Food!” and contains 90g of saturated fat and 93g sugar in a 1/4-cup serving. Yum!
At first glance, it looks like a local Kroger or Publix store. But upon closer inspection, everything is off-kilter in a disarming way that invites and rewards exploration.
“What we do is bring you into what you’ll see and experience through things that feel and seem rather mundane. But then, as you start to look around, you know it’s not that often that you see a tattooed chicken in the meat case, a display of Emergency Clams, or Doomed Expedition chewing gum,” says Michael Duffield, PR manager for Meow Wolf. (The slogan for the gum? “It’s not going well.”)
With many of the items available for actual purchase, the store doubles as a gift shop. (“It’s art you can take home,” Duffield says.) I’ve been enjoying the shrink-wrapped package of paper-thin pork slices that I picked up, which is really a notepad. It brings a smile to my face and reminds me of the endless puns on display throughout the store. But Omega Mart is more than a silly take on the retail experience. The aisles of wacky items are only the beginning of what’s in store for guests visiting the 52,000-square-foot attraction.
Portals, which are disguised as a freezer case and a janitor’s closet, lead to a multi-level space filled with exhibits. Omega Mart, it seems, is controlled by the nefarious Dramcorp. Video displays in the store hint at the questionable company behind the grocery store. By engaging in the exhibits, however, guests can begin to uncover the richly layered story driving the enterprise–or not.
“Each one of our exhibits has a narrative that you can choose to dig into, but you don’t have to,” Duffield explains. “You could skim along, you can swim a little, or you can dive deep.”
Guests can become an Omega Mart employee by purchasing an optional RFID-embedded Boop Card. Tapping the card at stations throughout the attraction can help visitors unlock the store’s mysterious backstory. Not unlike Severance, Dramcorp is filled with familial intrigue and sinister, if curious, goings-on.
The experience can be enjoyed on many levels. There is a mesmerizing Projected Desert area with eye-popping imagery projected onto the walls and floor that’s synchronized to a score created by ambient musician Brian Eno. A Dream Jungle envelops guests in a lush landscape of colorful plants and strange animals that emit soothing sounds. In The Infinitizer, guests can see an endless array of themselves enmeshed with freaky digital sculptures. Kids could investigate the many rooms, push buttons and otherwise interact with the exhibits, and take in the psychedelic sights and sounds at face value. To unspool the Dramcorp drama, younger adults and ardent gamers could sit at workstations in “offices” and poke around the factory where the puzzling and possibly worrisome substance known as the Source is being harvested and incorporated into Omega Mart’s products. I chose to boop around a bit and get a sense of the overarching story, but didn’t delve too deeply.
At the end of their strange supermarket adventure, guests can decompress at Datamosh, a not-so-hidden bar, and imbibe themed cocktails. They might want to stay away from the drink known as The Source, however.
Have you been to any of Meow Wolf’s exhibitions? If you were to visit Omega Mart, do you think you would take a deep dive and try to figure out the story driving the attraction?
I loved this article, Arthur! Two questions: Is there a charge to get into Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart, and is this one of the few venues in Las Vegas that doesn't have slot machines ringing throughout?
I’ve always wanted to experience this, and you’ve done a good job peeking my interest without revealing too much! And bonus points for the (I assume) Clash reference in the title of the article!