Participatory Building Takes Up Residence at Matty Mo's Art City
Tucumcari, NM: The Museum of No Spectators (MoNS), an itinerant museum project founded in 2019 by architect and artist John Marx, AIA, and artist Absinthia Vermut, is bringing its immersive and participatory experience to Art City, a new 40-acre sculpture park in Tucumcari, NM. In collaboration with artist and entrepreneur Matty Mo, MoNS continues to challenge traditional notions ofspectatorship and invite visitors to become active co-creators of the exhibition.
Situated along historic Route 66 with stunning desert landscapes as its backdrop, Art City aims to blend elements of renowned sculpture parks, such as Storm King and Marfa, with the interactive spirit of immersive art experiences found at Meow Wolf. The park currently features 12 large-scale sculptural works alongside a camping site, spa, communal kitchen, and artist residencies.
At the heart of Art City lies MoNS, an open-air museum where all visitors, regardless of skill level or experience, are encouraged to share their creativity and make their own contributions. The 2024 iteration features artwork from artists, including Marx, Hank Willis Thomas, Deborah Willis, Madelon Vriesendorp, and others integrated with spontaneous onsite creations from the public.
MoNS is designed to provide a venue for small artworks, and to promote inclusivity and artistic expression. The aluminum and steel structure consists of two large galleries arranged in a wing-like formation, creating a focused central entrance. The frontal entrance portal is framed by decorative lace-like CNC-cut patterns. The gallery’s layout is characterized by a series of angled walls, avoiding right angles throughout the design. This arrangement creates a dynamic visual effect, resembling an accordion-like folding and unfolding of space. The exterior and interior ends of each gallery are angled for a sense of movement and drama. Each gallery end incorporates steel tracery elements reminiscent of gothic cathedral design, allowing filtered views of the surrounding landscape. The tops of the gallery walls are also angled, opening the interior spaces to the sky and creating an inviting silhouette from a distance.
“MoNS is a place where everyone is an artist,” says Marx. “We want people to come and immerse themselves in this creative experience at Art City, to engage with the artwork, and to express themselves in unexpected and profound ways.”
The museum will also include a focus on poetry and spoken word programming with regular readings, workshops, and spaces for extemporaneous writing. Additionally, a dedicated stage for performance art has been incorporated into the design.
The exhibition itself is divided into eight themes, each exploring thought-provoking concepts through a variety of media. From "Social Justice: Truth, Lies, and Reconciliation" to "Abundance," which celebrates the richness of life and creativity, MoNS provides for multifaceted, potentially transformative artistic encounters at Art City.
The Museum of No Spectators (MoNS) is a pop-up museum project founded in 2019 by architect and artist John Marx, AIA, and artist Absinthia Vermut that challenges the traditional museum experience. A truly inclusive space for all, MoNS encourages visitors to participate in the creation of its exhibitions. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of its installation at Burning Man between 2019 and 2021, MoNS reformatted and debuted initially as a virtual exhibition space in the metaverse. MoNS made its Burning Man debut at Black Rock City, NV, in 2022 and an encore appearance in 2023. It is now installed at Art City.
John Marx, AIA—architect, co-lead artist—is Chief Artistic Officer of San Francisco-based Form4 Architecture, responsible for developing the firm’s design vision and language. He advocates philosophy, art, and poetry in the thoughtful making of place through the compelling power of form, aware that architecture is a balancing act between self-expression and collaboration. Marx is the author of Études: The Poetry of Dreams + Other Fragments, a compilation of his watercolors and poetry, as well as The Absurdity of Beauty, a treatise on 2ndCentury Modernism, and Towards Abundance: The Delightful Paradoxes of Gender. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Architecture Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Absinthia Vermut—co-lead artist—is an artist, businesswoman, and entrepreneur with a passion for making things. She is CEO and Founder of Absinthia’s Bottled Spirits, makers of the woman-made and distilled award-winning Absinthia Organic Absinthe.
Lonnie Graham—curator/director of cultural inclusion—is an artist, photographer, and cultural activist whose work addresses the integral role of the artist in society and seeks to re-establish artists as creative problem solvers. He is a Pew Fellow and professor at Pennsylvania State University.
Wes Skinner—builder/welder—the founder of Yzzo Studios, is a San Francisco-area artist and metal fabricator. With several years of professional metal fabrication experience under his belt, his specialty is artistic and architectural metalwork.
Matty Mo—Art City founder—is an artist known for creating headlines, murals, NFTs, brand projects, podcasts, and media, and selling artworks as “the Most Famous Artist”. Mo envisions Art City as an open-air art studio that offers visitors from all walks oflife the time and space to create and showcase their artwork.
