THIS is hybridity in action! Meow Wolf Denver
I did something SO incredible last week that I'm bursting to tell you about it.
It also happens to be a perfect lesson for all the things I try to communicate about being a hybrid professional.
Feeling and seeing hybridity in action is when we really understand what "in betweenness" means.
I push my workshop participants to notice their hybridity in action.
I ask them: "What are you doing when you're at the intersection of your work identities?"
And they scratch their heads.
Because hybridity is very, very hard to notice in ourselves. We just do what we do and take it for granted.
Here is THE best example of hybridity in action!!
Last Friday, I attended the opening of Meow Wolf Denver.
In case you didn't know this about me, I'm an avid lover of the arts and cultural events. I attended art school for both my undergrad and grad degrees, and I frequently follow and seek out creative events that are cutting edge, avant-garde, and evoke a sense of wonder.
I simply love the feeling of being transported through my imagination.
Well, Meow Wolf is imagination to the max. Some even say it's like being on an acid trip...
If you haven't heard of Meow Wolf (have you been living in a cave?), they've taken the creative economy by storm.
Short story, a group of artists in Santa Fe banded together and found a funder (same guy who happened to write the books that became HBO's Game of Thrones) to give them money to buy an old bowling alley and turn it into an immersive, interactive, art installation. In 2008, they opened Meow Wolf Santa Fe. Ever since, they've been wildly popular and transformed entertainment, amusement, and the experience economy upside-down.
They just opened the Denver location last week and the Las Vegas spot opened earlier this year.
Watch the origin story movie trailer for a hint of the rebellious boundary crossing energy Meow Wolf brings as artist/entrepreneurs.
Experiencing hybridity in action
Quite literally, Meow Wolf is hard to define, describe, and put into a words because it represents hybridity at its finest.
(FYI Defying language is a sign of hybridity).
Meow Wolf collides genres, senses, spaces, and time together. Literally, Denver's Convergence Station (note the word convergence) collapses time and transports you through multiple dimensions. Yes, I'm serious.
For instance, you walk through rooms that are never square...
...you find doors hidden in walls that lead you to tunnels or deconstructed drum sets or telephone booths or shrines...
It's a giant multi-story labyrinth of daunting, startling, confusing and enchanting experiences.
I found myself anxious for the first hour because I had no idea how to get out. However, disorientation is part of the wonder. It reminds you to follow wherever you feel drawn and stop worrying about where you're going.
Lessons on hybridity in action based on Meow Wolf
Experiencing Meow Wolf is a lesson on what it means to be a hybrid professional.
While Meow Wolf is a physical incarnation of intersectionality, use the lessons below to reflect on your own hybrid professional identity or how you see hybrid professionals in the workforce.
Workers who are hybrids possess the traits that Meow Wolf makes tangible.
There is no ONE thing to compare Meow Wolf to. It lies at the intersection of amusement parks, video arcades, placemaking, creative entrepreneurship, art, experiential design, and [insert another domain]. It is an extreme hybrid, so the intersectionality is quite complex. Nothing else exists like it.
It demonstrates seamless convergence. You can't tease Meow Wolf apart into parts. That's what integration means. The parts become something entirely else.
It's attractive because it's novel and category defying, which makes it completely unforgettable. Hybridity leaves an indelible and lasting impact when you encounter it because of its unexpectedness.
It's totally hard to describe but the value is REAL. You can feel Meow Wolf is a noteworthy and significant place. Unless you experience it for yourself, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about or why it matters. Articulating hybridity is an art, and articulating the VALUE of a person's hybrid professional identity takes work, but it's possible.
Feelings of awe and wonder are present. Your brain can't wrap itself around what the things inside Meow Wolf are, or how they're possible. I was literally told by a Meow Wolf actor/character to whisper into the ears of the trees, and sure enough, there were electronic ears in the trees and I leaned in to whisper and listen! Hybridity makes you wonder and question because it defies what we know.
What you thought you understood transforms before your very eyes. Your brain is constantly questioning "what is this?" and "what is that?" Nothing makes sense. There was a corridor full of old radios, DVD players and electronics, but the holes for media were replaced with mini dioramas of people and animals that went from floor to ceiling telling miniature stories like a 3D book. #wtf #notinkansasanymore
Top notch hybridity makes an unforgettable impact and shows us things we didn't know were possible. It condenses, tranforms, metamorphoses, and juxtaposes. Hybridity is novel, and novelty engages us and shatters old paradigms.
The same is true for hybrid professionals. There is no one else like them. They ignite a sense of awe and wonder, which is why they can never be fit into a box.
If you're questioning hybridity in action just go to Meow Wolf.