Factory Obscura, an Oklahoma City-based artist collective, created “Mix-Tape”—the first permanent immersive art experience in Oklahoma City. The exhibit opens for media and pass holders on September 21.
Mix-Tape hits rewind on the 1980s tradition of creating homemade musical compilations on cassette tape, highlighting the emotional ties to mixed-tapes and the form of expression by the person creating it. Meow Wolf collaborated with Factory Obscura to create an experience that allows participants from Mix-Tape and Meow Wolf’s House of Eternal Return in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to communicate in real-time.
The 6,000 square-foot interactive exhibit is filled with hand-crafted materials by 30 Oklahoma City-based artists. The outside of the building features an interactive boom box that is visible from the street and can be played 24/7. The boom box has large, working buttons that play iconic songs and prompts a disco ball, dancing stuffed animals and party lights to trigger the most prominent human emotions: joy, angst, love, melancholy, hope and wonder. Mix-Tape was created to encourage play for all ages through interactive art.
“The only map or guide to Mix-Tape is an open heart,” says co-founder Laura Massenat, “Our experiences are intended to spark awe and wonder in humans of all ages, all backgrounds, and all ability levels, inviting interactive play and exploration. Every visit is unique, every participant comes away changed.”
Mix-Tape is Factory Obscura’s fourth immersive concept and first permanent exhibit. The artist collective also presented Midnight Dinner in 2017, Shift in 2017-2018 and Beyond in 2018-2019.
The exhibit is located in The Womb building that previously belonged to The Flaming Lips. Factory Obscura also hosted The Flaming Lips art piece “The Kings Mouth” earlier this year.
Mix-Tape is located in Automobile Alley, a district that was developed in the 1920s and is now one of Oklahoma City’s most popular districts for shopping, dining and nightlife.