  Optics of metamaterials is shown to provide interesting table top models of
many non-trivial space-time metrics. The range of possibilities is broader than
the one allowed in classical general relativity. For example, extraordinary
waves in indefinite metamaterials experience an effective metric, which is
formally equivalent to the "two times physics" model in 2+2 dimensions. An
optical analogue of a "big bang" event is presented during which a (2+1)
Minkowski space-time is created together with large number of particles
populating this space-time. Such metamaterial models enable experimental
exploration of the metric phase transitions to and from the Minkowski
space-time as a function of temperature and/or light frequency.
