Kate Casanova, Daniel Dean, and Ben Moren, Hotel Hotel
“…on the transience of life in the city, on temporary abodes, on sentient inhabitants, on occupying and moving through space, and on the interactions that occur in transit.”
Hotel Hotel is a poetic exploration of the relationship between living organisms and architecture. It reflects on the transience of life in the city, on temporary abodes, on sentient inhabitants, on occupying and moving through space, and on the interactions that occur in transit. Hotel Hotel’s occupants are species of insects, such as caterpillars, ants, and moths. They inhabit the intensely colored rooms that dramatically contrast their individual colors and movements. In Hotel Hotel, the insects are anthropomorphized yet remain alien. This project inserts these distinct species into the center of an imagined urban interior.
In Hotel Hotel, the projection functions architecturally as virtual space, allowing the viewer to experience scale in an unexpected way. Through the magic of projection, we see these insects populate a building, metaphorically embodying the complexity of peoples, customs, cultures, and individual traits that make up the citizens of contemporary cities.