Profitopia
Living Arts of Tulsa
On view through July 25
Oklahoma City art punk band Stepmom’s 2024 Profitopia EP, a high concept collection of four songs, opens with a dystopian bossa nova cut with a welcome voiceover for new employees of Profitopia, an imagined but disturbingly real-feeling corporation: “Embrace the Profitopia lifestyle—where your dreams are our bottom line.”
In 2024, Stepmom brought Profitopia fully into the 3D world with an immersive installation at Factory Obscura in Oklahoma City. Now on exhibit at Living Arts through July 25, the installation expands their concept album into tactility, inviting visitors to step into the abandoned aftermath of a desolate corporate entity overtaken by a goopy pink brand of rebellion. This is a signature for the band: Stepmom’s members are subject-matter experts on candy coating seriousness, reminding listeners and concert attendees that something can present itself as harmless, even cute, while masking something much darker.
photos by Becky Carman
This juxtaposition falls neatly in line at Profitopia, where viewers are invited to listening stations to hear songs from the EP that accompany each room of the exhibit. The disconcerting tone arrives with the first steps into the gallery: a front desk abandoned in dim lighting, a goo-dripped lobby, a vending machine offering Creativity Capsules for sale. From there, viewers can visit the office kitchen, the corporate meeting and fitness area, and finally, the secret lab where the sinister nature of Profitopia becomes clear.
If you’ve visited Factory Obscura or any of the Meow Wolf facilities, you’ll recognize the immersive nature of an art exhibit you’re encouraged to (gently!) interact with: flip through the scattered office memos, get in a little exercise, and open every drawer and door you can find. It’s the small details, the inside jokes, the sheer handmadeness of it all, that are the most impressive aspects and make the exhibit worth taking your time in.
photos by Becky Carman
“PEOPLE OVER PROFITS,” exclaims scrawled graffiti over one corporate values poster. “TAKE BACK YOUR TIME,” says another. The messaging is on-the-nose enough, but it also raises other, more meta questions. What’s the real answer to work-life balance? What does it mean to turn your creativity into money for yourself—or for someone else? This installation is Stepmom’s way of figuring out these questions in real time, taking listeners and viewers along with them for the ride.
“I label my art as ‘conscious escapism,’” said Stepmom’s creative force Lindsey Cox in an artist statement. “While I want listeners and participants to immerse themselves in the Stepmom realm, my intention is to spark a flame in people to imagine a world where we value community, activism, and feeling safe in our own bodies over commodification.”
“Watch me self-destruct my life / it’s alright / wasting no more time,” goes the ending refrain of Profitopia, the EP.
A girl can dream, can’t she?
The galleries at Living Arts are free to visit during regular hours, with Profitopia-adjacent events happening throughout the exhibition for small admission fees.
