Published on: October 18, 2024, 11:51h.
Last updated on: October 18, 2024, 12:05h.
The Las Vegas Strip just got a little less immersive. “Particle Ink: House of Shattered Prisms” will close on Monday, October 28, after only seven months at the Luxor.
Occupying the former wedding chapel on the casino resort’s mezzanine level, “Particle Ink” bills itself as an experience “merging the worlds of art and technology with immersive virtual and augmented reality.” It was created by an art collective called LightPoets and executive-produced by Minneapolis-based entertainment technology company Kaleidoco.
“We are immensely grateful to the Las Vegas community for embracing Particle Ink and allowing us to grow within this incredible city,” Jennifer Tuft, founder of Kaleidoco, said in a statement. “We’ve been honored to share this journey with everyone who has supported us and believed in our vision.”
House of Shuttered Prisms
No reason was provided for the closure. However, there is a rule covering 99.99% of the closures of shows, restaurants, nightclubs, and other attractions on the Strip. And that rule is that nothing ever comes to an end here unless it fails to draw enough paying customers to cover the exorbitant cost of modern Strip leases.
In the case of “Particle Ink,” it was a partnership with Luxor/MGM Resorts, which means that the decision to close was probably not their own.
When it opened in April, “Particle Ink” was seen by industry observers as MGM Resorts’ attempt to lure Gen Z, which visits Las Vegas by the millions every year primarily to patronize AREA15, to the Strip as well.
AREA15 is an entertainment complex located in a series of warehouses northwest of the Strip. Its tenants, anchored by “Omega Mart” from Minneapolis’ Meow Wolf art collective, marry art, technology, and commerce so successfully, the City of Las Vegas recently dedicated America’s first “immersive tourism district” around it.
“Particle Ink” was probably better off waiting for a slot in this district than taking the gamble it did. In the attraction’s previous Las Vegas incarnation — as an independent production called “Speed of Light” staged in a downtown warehouse — it drew sellout crowds and critical raves.
At the Luxor, Particle Ink presents itself in two editions: a daytime walk through trippy projected images called Wanderlust ($27) and a nighttime version that involves live performers, acrobatics, and whatever “the deepest secrets of the 2.5th dimension” are supposed to be.
For tickets to its final performances, click here.