Art Hotel

                           "Art Hotel"

I was lucky enough to attend the Art Hotel exhibit in downtown Sacramento, The event was put together by various artist who joined to turn an old hotel into art. In addition to the art itself being amazing, what else really still gets me to this point was that all that wonderful art was displayed in a space and was only available for view for a short time. I can see why the line was so long day in and day out to be part of the lucky group to take a view into this experience. The only part of the experience that was bitter sweet was the fact that the viewers were only allowed twenty minutes to view all the floors of the hotel. 

It was interesting walking into the hotel because we were led up the stairs into a hallway and then left free to walk around the hotel. There were art works all over the hotel, The artists didn't just add pieces  around the hotel, they fully immersed the entire hotel room to room, wall to wall, floor to floor. It gave the viewer a chance to not just look at each art piece as you would a gallery, but to walk through the art. Experience the art. The viewer then becomes a piece of the multitude of art around them as the explore the hotel.

 

It was a great experience to see a building transformed into art. The entire space was utilized. Even the stairs were used to create a work of art. I almost didn't notice it at first because I had to get an entire view of the stairs to see the piece. It takes a different view to take something that we have been accustomed to such as stairs and turn it into a a drawing. The hotel brings something to mind, using a familiar space, a building, to bring attention to the art that exist all around us. Art can be seen in anything if one has the eye to explore it, Having people walk through the space brings them to that attention that art does surround them just as it does surround them throughout every inch of the Art Hotel.

One of the rooms that really held my attention the most was the room that held the work by Franceska Gamez. On one wall was a painting of a woman. Its something about the flowing forms that seem to guide the viewer along the wall. The use of color both in the foreground and background of the image  bring me into the painting, I was so drawn by it that I came back to this room a few times. On the opposite wall were other paintings that seemed to hold the rhytem of the flowing forms that held me in the painting on on the opposite side of the wall, The artist works well with combining form with a sculptural like element that really draws me into the piece. Especially with the frist image its almost as if the image is a discussion of all the twists and turns that metaphorically enter ones mind. 

       "The Uniersal Recipient"

                     Dave DeCamilla, "Just in Case"

Dave DeCamilla, "Just in Case Case", enamel on wood and toy gun

There were also sculpture pieces in the exhibition. The sculpture pieces ranged themselves in what forms they took. From hand crafted pieces such as with wire to found items in nature such as rocks. Its interesting how the sculpture pieces speak to different dialogue such as the rocks speaking to the environment and topology and the wire forms speaking to human interaction with others such as with the uniquely made weapon placed on the wall. I wasn't sure I fully got the message but the combination of the elements in that room made me think about looking at ourselves and how we react to others in a given environment. 

 

There were also interactive pieces that allowed the viewer to be part of the piece whether physically or by placing themselves in the environment and reacting to the work. One piece was a projection built into a wall in which a viewer looks into a given area that gave them a projected city to look at and in return the their face was projected on the wall inside the space. The image above shows a woman looking into the installation and the second image is of her husbands projection who used the piece after her, 

Another piece that took the viewer out of the two dimensional space was one of a room that seemed to be empty because it was pitch black. Before we even entered that room there was a door that warned us not to look inside. Then right next door was the dark room with birds on the wall accompanied by sound of birds and an ambient blue light.  I thought this piece was interesting because the artist led the viewer to believe the space would be frightening, yet it looked very interesting and was an interesting place to stand in for awhile. I got a sense of vastness and nature although the birds didn't really exist. 

Overall it was an experience seeing a diverse selection of art from contemporary artist. I know the exhibit wasn't up for very long, so it makes me appreciate the art i got to see first hand. It took me awhile to understand, as an artist myself, that we have to separate ourselves from the work because not all work is kept like in a museum, The value in the art was the experience of seeing it while it was available for view and taking away from it the time we shared being immersed in that space of art from many different backgrounds. It was really a moving experience that I took with me to see a building itself turned into art and see the space around us in a different way.