August 7, Sunday. Karla and I went downtown in Santa Fe. We stopped in at Guadalupe Rubber Stamps so I could introduce myself to Lee, the owner, and talk about possibly teaching some workshops next year. Then, we walked around the arts & crafts fair that was going on. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor fair.
The next 2 photos I took as we were driving back to Karla’s for lunch.We ate our Indian leftovers from the night before. (I refer to this type of photo taking as “drive-bys” since they are taken from the vehicle, as it is moving.)
After lunch, Karla, and her husband Billy, took me to an art installation. They didn’t tell me what it was because they wanted me to be surprised. But the people working the entrance gave it away when they asked me to sign a waiver, and I asked why I needed to? What kind of dangerous crazy show was this? “Well, it’s a pirate ship.” I was instantly excited.
The show, and ship, was called “The Due Return.” It was a collaborative installation done by the Meow Wolf group. I wish my pictures could really show how incredibly awesome it was. Basically, this group built a 75 ft long and 25 ft wide ship inside a large warehouse-type space. And they went to such detail, it was amazing. The best way to explain it is by quoting their web site.
The Due Return is a dimension-hopping ship that has been traveling for two centuries through a series of time/spaces. Through its many dimensional travelings, The Due Return has appropriated a variety of elements pulled from the many places it has visited. The Control Room, for instance, is a futuristic, sci-fi spaceship bridge with a multitude of buttons and knobs that the audience can interact with while The Archive carries a refined turn-of-the-century aesthetic.
After traveling for two-hundred years through 30 different time/spaces, The Due Return is now settled on the landscape of a foreign world, where the ship is utilized to harvest resources from the alien planet.
The ship is 75ft. long, 25ft. wide, and 14ft. tall. The interior of the ship is 2500 sq. ft. split between 10 different rooms. These rooms include a food garden, lounge, engine room, sleeping quarters, laboratory, captain’s quarters, archive, and control room.
Below is a slide show of some of the pictures I took. We loved it so much, we went through it three times. Please go check out their web site! They have lots of information about the project, behind the scenes photos and video.
After we got home, Karla made a lovely and tasty dinner of stuffed eggplant & squash.
Then, we played Farkle,
The next day, Karla and I were going to Ghost Ranch! So tune in for that. You can see the other posts for my trip here.
