Let's Create

Sneak peek at the film noir-inspired rooms coming to Meow Wolf Houston

Another big installation has been revealed ahead of Meow Wolf's October 31 opening in Houston.

Santa Fe-based artist Janell Langford has created the six-room Obsidiodyssey, which is a series of spaces that represent different stages of the creative process. This is Langford’s second permanent installation with Meow Wolf, following her celebrated installation CJ's Temporal Lobby at House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe.

Photo by Imani Thomas

Artist Janell Langford during the install.

Participants will join Langford's iconic character CJ, an art director tasked with creating the perfect music video for Fantastrophe, a godlike pop star wrestling with the limits of her ego.

"I wanted to make an experience that takes guests through the ebb and flow of darkness and joy that comes with putting your whole self into works of art,” Langford said in a statement. “For me, making art can be the most beautiful, euphoric thing in the world; but often, getting it out requires facing many of my demons. I hope this journey I've put before our guests resonates with creatives across the artistic spectrum."

Visitors get to engage with the creative journey in real time, from storyboarding in CJ's Studio to navigating the challenges of Insidiopolis, an alley inspired by film noir style that symbolizes the artist’s fears and anxieties.

There are also interactive elements such as paint-by-number experiences, a clock that plays with the perception of time, and a final celebration at Fantastrophe’s House Party, complete with an interactive DJ booth. A capsule clothing and art collection is also being released than spans crop tops and sweatshirts to pins, stickers, tote bags, and prints.

Meow Wolf Houston Of course there will be Obsidiodyssey merch.Photo courtesy of Meow Wolf

This is just the latest piece of the puzzle that is Meow Wolf Radio Tave, the name of the Houston venue that's a riff on “radio wave.” Described in press materials as a radio station that’s been transported to another dimension, Meow Wolf visitors will be able to explore dozens of rooms filled with interactive elements such as hidden doors, paths, and portals.

For those unfamiliar, Meow Wolf is a Santa Fe, New Mexico-based art collective that’s opening its fifth installation in Houston’s Fifth Ward (the other Texas location is in Grapevine, outside Dallas). Think of it as a choose-your-own-adventure contemporary art museum loaded with sculptures, murals, video, and light and sound artworks that each contribute a small piece of the overall theme.

As CultureMap has previously reported, a diverse ensemble of more than 50 contributing artists from Texas has collaborated with Meow Wolf’s in-house artist team to bring the facility to life. The list of local creative superstars included such well-known artists as innovative theatrical set and puppet designer Afsaneh Aayani, art activist Kill Joy, and two longtime pillars of Houston’s installation and immersive art community in Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, of Havel Ruck Projects.

Meow Wolf Cowboix Hevvven Cowboix Hevvven is Meow Wolf's bar and restaurant. Photo by Kate Russell

Meow Wolf will feature a venue space, a gift shop, and Cowboix Hevvven, a dive bar-inspired bar and restaurant that will offer “otherworldly Texan hospitality and comfort food.” Cole Bee Wilson, a fifth-generation Texan and Meow Wolf’s lead artist, took the lead in creating Cowboix Hevvven. True to the venue’s theme, it will feature a jukebox with 30 songs created by Texas artists for Meow Wolf.

Annual season passes are currently on sale for $84. They include unlimited visits to the venue and perks such as a 10-percent discount at both the gift shop and Cowboix Hevvven.

Subscribers to Meow Wolf’s email list may purchase single-day passes beginning September 24. General tickets will go on sale October 1.

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Movie Review

George Clooney shines in Jay Kelly, a sharp and heartfelt look at fame

Photo by Peter Mountain/Netflix

George Clooney in Jay Kelly.

The life of a celebrity is paradoxical in that your life is lived in the public eye, yet who you really are is almost unknowable. Movie history is littered with films that try to dig into the private lives of real and fictional actors, with varying results. The latest film to try to unearth what it means to be famous is Jay Kelly.

In a perfect bit of casting, George Clooney stars in the title role as an actor who’s still world famous even if he’s edging toward the downside of his career. His coterie of helpers, including manager Ron (Adam Sandler) and publicist Liz (Laura Dern), make sure he is taken care of at every turn, often anticipating his needs before he realizes it.

A run-in with an old friend, Timothy (Billy Crudup), sends Jay spiraling, questioning not just the meaning of his 35-plus year career, but also his relationships with his two daughters, Jessica (Riley Keough) and Daisy (Grace Edwards). Jay’s attempt to manage the crisis pits his identity as a celebrity and as a father and friend against each other.

Written and directed by Noah Baumbach, and co-written by Emily Mortimer (who has a small role), the film has to walk the tightrope of making the audience like Jay even as he does and says things that might make him unlikable. There’s a very thin line between the character of Jay Kelly and the real life George Clooney; each is seemingly infinitely charming when dealing with the public, but they lead very different private lives.

Baumbach takes a light approach to the story, occasionally dipping into more serious territory but never going too deep. For some, this may seem like a copout, as if he’s merely pretending to want to explore what celebrity truly is. But as you see Jay navigate his way between his work, his family, and being out among the public, little details emerge that make him increasingly complex.

A lot of the film’s pleasure comes from the strong actors cast in relatively minor roles. There are not enough words to express what it means to have actors like Jim Broadbent as Jay’s mentor, or Greta Gerwig as Ron’s wife, or Stacy Keach as Jay’s father, or Patrick Wilson as a fellow longtime actor. Each of them and more lend an instant air of excellence to the film that elevates the story beyond its simple premise.

Clooney may be playing a version of himself, but as the film notes on multiple occasions, playing yourself is more difficult than it seems. He is deserving of an Oscar nomination, as is Sandler, who doesn’t give off even a whiff of insincerity as a man who has given perhaps a bit too much of himself in aid of another man’s career.

Jay Kelly is not a world-changing film, and some may accuse it of being another navel-gazing Hollywood story. But the forcefulness of Clooney’s performance, the long line of strong supporting actors, and the subtly effective storytelling by Baumbach and Mortimer (making her feature screenwriting debut) help it become much more than might be expected.

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Jay Kelly is now playing in select theaters. It debuts on Netflix on December 5.

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