It is an unusual experience to spend the night alone in a public building. Any janitor or security guard will testify to the palpable sensation of having that much architecture focused on an individual. Carsten Höller’s entry into “theanyspacewhatever” at the Guggenheim Museum offered the public an opportunity to rent his “Revolving Hotel Room” for a night. The installation boasts all of the amenities (minus bathroom) that a hotel room would offer ergonomically arranged for the comfort of the guest. The “room” is fully booked for the duration of the exhibit.
Art reporter Jerry Saltz was one of the lucky few that spent the night and he wrote about the experience in his column for New York Magazine. The article offers insight as to why the author was disappointed his wife couldn’t join him in the “ecstasy machine”. Always nice to see respected art world professionals let their hair down. It’s not on the level of Henry Geldzahler on a raft in a pool smoking a cigar but kudos to Mr. Saltz.
“theanyspacewhatever” is made up of the collaborative efforts of several talented artists including Angela Bulloch, Maurizio Cattelan, Liam Gillick, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, Douglas Gordon, Carsten Höller, Pierre Huyghe, Jorge Pardo, Philippe Parreno, and Rirkrit Tiravanija. This show was more than four years in the making during which time chief curator Nancy Spector worked closely with the artists to consider site specific pieces that accounted for the exhibition as a whole.
Carsten Höller
Revolving Hotel Room
theanyspacewhatever
24 October 2008 – 7 January 2009
Guggenheim Museum
NYC
