Tag Archives: hotel

Thou Shall Not Make Elephants from Mosquitoes

… or so they say. At least in German. You might have guessed that it means you should not make out a problem worse than it is or something like that. Which I am not going to do…

But seriously, the mosquitoes in Germany are huge and evil. Unlike the African mosquitoes, which I am used to, they are not deterred by wearing long clothes. They sting right through your pants or shirt. They arrive in huge swarms. And their stings lure my immune system into a huge battle, showing off giganormous red spots and itching like hell.

So during our holiday we encountered beautiful beaches just like in this photo, hanging in our rented bungalow. We had a really good time and weather just like in the picture.

Cheap calendar print of beach scene in our holiday appartment

Still, this photo alone does not sum our memories of this holiday, as one important aspect is missing. Killer-mosquitoes en masse. At some stage I actually think the sky turned dark from them flying by.

… and I caught myself wondering if it were not actually much more pleasant to see a herd of elephants calmly passing by, instead of these blood-sucking beasts. I cursed myself for having forgot my natural mossi repellent and being too health conscious as to buy the chemical version in the pharmacy. I also remembered the time when I turned into a serial killer (of mosquitoes) and made some art about it.

Pencil study of dead mosquitoes

All over the ages people have left signs for fellow travellers, so that they could find the best spots or be warned of danger. I decided to follow suit and leave my warning on the wall for the next visitors to be better prepared for the inevitable.

The rebel in me also decided to not to listen to the Germans and indeed make elephants out of mosquitoes.

Detail of my Hotel-Deco-Busting Intervention Nr 16.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting:

Wie man aus Mücken Elefanten macht.

(How to make elephants out of mosquitoes.)

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 16)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.(Teil 16)

Since 2010 I have secretly been slightly altering tasteless or boring hotel or holiday apartment art whenever I had the chance to.

Wie man aus Mücken Elefanten macht
Deco print with my Hotel-Deco-Busting Intervention.
Ball-point pen and eraser on found calendar page

Detail of elephant mosqitoes

Before and After Picture of my Hotel-Deco-Busting Intervention Nr 16

If you enjoyed this, you can view more Hotel Deco Busting Interventions Hotel Deco Busting Interventions by Imke Rust.

Happiness in Charkiv, Ukraine

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Happiness, Charkiv 2015

Creating happiness in Charkiv by adding some glamour and text.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments. (Part 13)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.

On my recent trip to the Ukraine to prepare an exhibition and workshop I have been staying in Hotel Kharkow (Charkiv) in the centre of town. I am sure this hotel has seen better times, especially the rooms, but still it was a pleasant stay.

The room’s wall decoration (I cannot call it art) was made to match the pillow cases and duvet covers. Or was it the other way around? I do not know. Anyway it was neither particularly pretty nor interesting.

With my hotel deco busting projects I try to add value, to improve on what I find and to add some original touch. I also like to do this in an unobtrusive way and hope that my additions will bring some joy and happiness to those who notice them.

The country and citizens have been through a hard time with the war happening in the eastern Ukraine, only 100km away from Charkiv. Keeping that in mind, I wanted to bring back some of the old glamour which I imagine this hotel and city had. And add a sparkle of happiness.

I found out the Ukrainian spelling of the word Happiness and added these letters to the wall decoration with a gold pen. Looking at the artwork from the front, you almost do not notice the difference, but when you look at it from an angle – for instance as you enter the room – the golden letters glow beautifully.

Please sign up on the right side to receive updates, if you want to be informed about another hotel deco busting works which I have done during this trip.

Please click on the images to see a larger view and read the information about them.

Original wall deco or BEFORE picture

AFTER picture from the front – one almost does not notice my intervention.

Golden Happiness – the letters of the word can be seen best from an angle

A view of the room on departure

If you ever are in Charkiv try and get this room to check out if this is still there and let me know.

Me, in front of my finished intervention

Find more similar interventions HERE.

Creative Value Adding

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ProcessDetail OMG hope you don’t vandalize hotel art…I know it’s not good. .but it serves a purpose. ..as all art does. … A friend asked on Facebook.

Me: Nope, I am just donating my awesome creative skills to adding value to the cheap hotel deco and turning it into a unique, original piece of art.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments. (Part 12)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.

I have just returned from a business trip to the Ukraine. As my regular readers know, whenever I happen to stay at a hotel I have a special mission. I upgrade the usual bleak and cheap hotel deco, by turning it into an original piece of art. I use my time and resources to infuse the found hotel deco (I cannot really call it art) with some humour, style and creativity. So the hotel ends up with something better and more valuable.

In Kiew I found a cheap and slightly fading landscape print in my hotel room. It has been printed on canvas and framed in a solid wooden frame. I arrived late at night and had to leave early, so this piece of work was done in the early morning hours.

I like to not plan too much and rather react spontaneously to what I find. Besides this faded print, I found a complimentary sewing set from the hotel. I decided to use that and originally thought of just doing some kind of geometric shape. After a few stitches, an abstract geometric shape did not feel right and suddenly it became a house, with a shed and a dog.

The complimentary sewing set, does not offer a lot of thread, so I had to be very economical and selective with my lines and stitches. Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures! I hope you enjoy them.

Please sign up on the right side to receive updates, if you want to be informed about another two hotel deco busting works which I have done during this trip.

Please click on the images to see a larger view and read the information about them.

The original piece as I found it (or the BEFORE picture)

Detail of the new additions

The original and upgraded new artwork or the AFTER picture

View of the room before I left.

If you are ever in Kiev try and get this room to check out if this is still there and let me know.

Find more similar interventions HERE.

The Ghost of the White Lady

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2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments. (Part 11)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen. (Teil 11)

(Since 2010 I have secretly been slightly altering tasteless or boring hotel or holiday apartment art whenever I had the chance to.)

It is that time of the year again, when my husband and I travel to Frankfurt for the LEA (Live Entertainment Awards) and as usual we stayed in the Marriot Hotel.

They have upgraded all of their rooms 2 years ago and fitted them with new decorations. I must admit, the new canvas prints of colourful digital collages of Frankfurt buildings are pleasant to look at. They look much more modern and add a pleasant colour highlight to the rooms. Certainly the best hotel art I have seen in a long time. (And ok, I must admit, I do not often stay in hotels, especially not in upper-class hotels, so there sure is more good art out there somewhere.)

At least since my public confession many of my regular followers know about my passion for improving hotel and guesthouse décor. I just cannot help myself and there is always ‘room for improvement’.

Hotel room and digital canvas print as found

So, although I do appreciate the tasty art in this hotel room, there was something bothering me, about Frankfurt, the hotel and the art. The inner city is dominated by imposing skyscrapers and concrete, the hotel is decorated in a very masculine, dark style and the art represents this materialistic, powerful, male atmosphere. It’s a man’s world. I missed the humanity and the female touch or balance of yin energy.

A close-up view (or the BEFORE picture)

As usual I let myself be inspired by what I find and then determine the best approach then and there. It did not take long and I knew I just had to add some positive Yin energy to the artwork. Also something that puts people in the foreground and add something personal, to draw attention to the individuality and humanness of the guest who stays in this multi-storey hotel.

I am not sure where she came from, but without a doubt I knew clearly that the White Lady of the Brandberg wanted to make her appearance here. Like a ghost she wanted to travel the world and inspire the modern-time city dweller.

For those of you, who do not know her, let me introduce her to you. She is most widely known as a cave dweller, a rock-painting situated at the Brandberg in the Namib desert, Namibia. Her age is not known, but she is ancient, and probably has been drawn by the forefathers of the San people. She is striking, mostly for her different appearance in relation to the other drawings. She wears strange clothes, is elegant and looks powerful. She dominates the scene.

The White Lady in new surroundings…

She is called the ‘White Lady’ because of her white garment. Some people claim she is not female but male, but it is difficult to know for sure. Some people also assume that she was a stranger to the land and that she was honoured like a goddess or queen. There is even talk about her not being from this world. It is said that her strange headdress and suit could resemble that of an astronaut, complete with helmet and all. And if I look at her, I can very well imagine that to be true. She is also holding a strange object in her hand, I always think that it is a wine glass, but who knows, maybe it is some gadget to control her spaceship?

She definitely is full of self-confidence. She is powerful; she even has her own bow and arrow, in a time when hunting used to be the men’s job. She is a traveller. A stranger who is welcomed and honoured… She is African – at least that is where she was last seen. She is proud, elegant, and beautiful and knows where she is going. And she enjoys life… if it is indeed a wine glass in her hand. 😉

So she, or her ghost, wanted to come to Frankfurt and inspire people here too.

Inspire us to honour the female role in the world more.

To put humanity back in the forefront.

To remind us to honour and welcome strangers in our society, especially when they possibly have fled from war-torn countries.

To remind women of their strengths and the important role we need to play in this world.

To remind us of old traditions, rituals and art which honoured our spirits and the connection to nature.

The White Lady in Frankfurt (or the AFTER picture) – Acrylic on found printed canvas.

She did not come alone. She brought three female friends with her. Friendship is important and together we are more powerful and have much more fun.

More white ladies…

I hope you, and the guests who will stay in this room, enjoy their presence and the fact that you/they are viewing a very unique, personalized artwork.

The room and unique, personalized art work.

Many people have asked me how come I have all the right materials on hand to do such things. Well, I am an artist by profession, so I usually travel with some basic art making tools. I cannot plan in advance, since I usually do not know what kind of artwork I will find in the hotel, but part of my creativity is to make a plan and use what is available. Also, usually I do not have much time, so I have to work spontaneously and use what I have. I do get creative. Once I was faced with an artwork behind glass and none of my pens were permanent or working on glass and I only brought watercolours, so I had to borrow a scissor from the hotel staff and used their in-house magazine for images, begged for some double-sided tape from the people laying out the red carpet in the hall and created a collage on top of the glass. Have a look at that here.

If you want to see other similar projects, just click HERE.

When Angels Come to Town…

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… the mice are dancing on the roofs.

Another addition to the Hotel Deco Busting Series

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.
(Part 10 /Teil 10)
Since 2010 I have secretly been slightly altering tasteless or boring hotel or holiday apartment art whenever I had the chance to.

Recently we stayed at the Marriott Hotel in Frankfurt for two nights. You might remember that last year we were here too, and I made the piece ‘Love & Devotion‘ which is still one of my absolute favourites.

This time I came better prepared for working on artworks behind glass and with an idea for a new creation in mind…

And as life has it, I was surprised that they have renovated the rooms and added new and much more colourful and modern art (and my plans became obsolete). Now they had digital prints on canvas by some anonymous artist hanging on the wall. I actually thought the new art is not bad and really loved the colours, especially the deep reds. It works well in the room – compliments to the decorator!

But hey, even a good artwork can use some fun and magic…

This way it will stand out from the probably 50 exact copies of this print in the other rooms and hopefully add some sparkle to the lives of future guests who notice the small additions.

Without further ado, here is what happened:

BEFORE PIC (Digital print by unknown artist)

AFTER Picture – can you see the differences?

Since I actually thought this artwork is not bad, I did not want to make huge differences and decided on many small interventions guided by what the images suggested to me…

Mice are dancing on the roof... how many mice do you see?

Mice are dancing on the roof… how many mice can you find?

Angels descending from the roof

Balloons and fireworks all over town

Angels in town

New title of the artwork added to the bottom of the frame

I decided to add my new title on the bottom border of the artwork. If the guest has not noticed the slight alterations he or she might see this title when lying in bed and looking at the artwork and hopefully become curious.

If you ever stay in the Marriott Hotel in Frankfurt, you might want to ask for room 37-05 and enjoy the company of angels, mice and magic… 🙂

At work 🙂

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 2)

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In a previous blog post (A Confession) I have confessed to my urge to improve boring or ugly wall decorations in hotels or holiday apartments. Today I am sharing another similar intervention with you, before I am leaving for a short holiday at the Baltic Sea. And who knows, maybe our bungalow there is also in need of some artistic intervention? If so, you will find out about it on my blog – so, if you have not already done it, subscribe to my blog to receive notifications when I post something new.

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments.(Part 2)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen.(Teil 2)

Background: Since 2010 I have secretly been slightly altering tasteless or boring hotel or holiday apartment art whenever I had the chance to.

Title: Appearance of a Woman

Date: July 2012, Location: a holiday apartment somewhere in Vítkovice, Czech Republic.
Medium: Acrylic and pen on found decorative print on wood

: The ‘Before’ picture of a commercial flower print as found in the holiday apartment

The holiday apartment had two exactly the same decorative commercial art prints in the bedrooms. How thoughtless and boring is that? With apologies to the original artist, I thought at least one should be more exciting than just flowers and squares. So this is how it looks now:

: Altered artwork

: Busy with letting the woman appear on the flower print.

: View of the room with the altered artwork

: Explanation and apology text which I have added to the back of the work – just in case somebody thinks of looking there.

Text added by me on the back of the artwork:

Congratulations!

You have noticed that this decoration is not your average horror experience of cheap so-called art prints, but a more stimulating and interesting mutation thereof. Such bad and soulless pictures cause an allergic reaction with me, which manifests in colours, lines and picturesque alterations.

I hope you can understand and forgive me and that you can find joy and a fresh curiosity and appreciation for true creativity and real thought-provoking , interesting and exciting original art.

Yours sincerely, Imke Rust

A Confession

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I have a confession to make.
It involves hotel rooms, bad art and a developing compulsive (dis)order.

It started about 2 years ago. In a holiday bungalow in northern Germany…
I realized that every time I looked at the wall and the poor excuse-of-an-artwork hanging there, I became nauseous and my rebel soul escaped from its chains. It does not happen very often, but it has since become a serious addiction with a recognizable pattern.

Have you ever noticed the crap they hang on the walls in a room which, for a brief amount of time, is supposed to be your comfortable home away from home? A room which you usually pay a substantial amount of money for? And in my case, this money is hard-earned by producing and selling enough good art to be able to afford an occasional weekend away.

Ok, you might have not noticed. But that shall be forgiven, because usually it is so bland or so bad, that you might not even notice or remember it. But I started to feel really insulted. Usually the art they hang looks cheaper and more tasteless than the carefully selected rubbish bin in the same room.

Anyway. I just returned from a brief visit to Frankfurt. I was invited to attend the glamorous Live Entertainment Awards 2013 and accommodated in a nearby fancy hotel.

There it happened again.
Recognizing the pattern, I thought this time I rather confess straight away.

Our room on the 32^nd floor was decorated with a digital print of some kind of old engraving, possibly showing an early view of Frankfurt. (There was no signature or any other information provided to trace the artwork to its original creator.) It was paced behind glass in a big golden frame and securely fastened to the wall with screws. Yes, screwed, as if the hotel worries that somebody will want to steal it?!? Ok, granted, the white pass-partout might have some kind of value on the recycling market for some poor artist…

The decoration in the hotel room… (or the “Before” picture)

I had to do something. Usually I never go anywhere without a small selection of essential art materials and tools, but this time I just grabbed a few pens and my sketchbook, not expecting much free time for creative adventures. Limitations often tickle me to become even more creative and soon I had a rough plan, fitting my ethics of doing as little harm as possible.

The unsuspecting hotel staff agreed to lend me a pair of scissors large enough to cut creative designs into the curtains. The hotel also provided me with a complimentary copy of a glossy magazine. Lastly I got a piece of double-sided tape from the team preparing the Frankfurt Festhalle for the LEA awards. Addicts like me, just know how to get their fix 😉

I am still not ready for the ‘show and tell’ part – please bear with me, this is not an easy confession, but I promise, it is serious fun.

Looking out of our window, we had a great view of Frankfurt am Main with its huge skyscrapers housing several large financial institutions and banks. Frankfurt a.M. is known as the financial hub of Germany, I am told. If there is something that gives me an even worse allergic reaction than bad art, it is the whole financial industry with their dubious systems and the way they rule the world.

Frankfurt am Main morning skyline view from our room

With the banks in the back of my mind (even literally when I turned around from the window and looked at the artwork in our room), a magazine at hand, scissors and tape I was ready to spend the afternoon happily in our room. Much better than shopping or sight-seeing!

And now I let the pictures tell the rest:

Selecting pictures from the magazine – trying to find images that suit the original artwork in size and which add some thought-provoking content. Glad I found this one in a mag that mostly features fashion

Using the huge scissors to cut out the tiny figures was not an easy task

The images were backed with double-sided tape

and then carefully positioned and stuck onto the glass. That way, it can easily be removed and I will hopefully not have to face a ‘Destruction of private property’ charge.

And the results:

Hotel deco-busting collage ‘Love and Devotion’ by Imke Rust (or the “After” picture)

Limited by the available images, materials and the fact that the decorative ‘artwork’ was behind glass and fastened to the wall, this was a great challenge, but I really like the result and think it worked out perfectly. (Thank you, dear universe, for always providing me with exactly what I need! 😉 )

Detail: centre of image with title of art work. Because the images are stuck onto the glass, they cast a shadow and the whole artwork gets a nice three-dimensional feel.

Only two images really worked for me with this picture, considering the size, colours etc., so I ended up with Chinese military procession and some models dressed in futuristic, Asian inspired fashion. While the soldiers looked quite informal, the models posed in an almost threatening and powerful way. So this work seemed to be headed into the direction of a subtle confrontation or battle. Possibly between the female and male powers? Or Europe and Asia? I was a bit apprehensive about displaying a battle or aggression, so I wanted to add some relief to this tense situation.

Detail of the deco-busting collage 'Love and Devotion' © Imke Rust

I found a speech-bubble with the text “We don’t want taxpayers having to save banks” and thought, that this statement suits my view, it would be a perfect cause for these ladies to protect and it would give the artwork a comic feel, making it a bit ‘lighter’, but still with a serious message. I also decided to give the work a title and place it in the middle of the pass-partout, like it was often done with old prints. From the limited text phrases available “Love and Devotion” seemed to be a perfect choice.

I then decided this should be a dialogue. If the female part is allowed to say something, then the male part will also get a voice. I found a tiny empty speech bubble in the hotel brochure and drew a heart in it and placed it above a smiling soldier…

And some more dialogue happens when you open the curtains and can see Frankfurt’s skyline with the building of the Deutsche Bank (amongst others) reflected on the image…

Reflections of the modern Frankfurt skyline on the altered image

Finally the truth is out…

I love adding fun and value to the ‘artworks’ and decoration in hotel rooms or holiday apartments, and have done so on several occasions. I wish I could see the faces of the people who notice the interventions and know what they are thinking. I also wish I knew how long it takes the hotel staff to recognize the interventions and see what they decide to do about it. Hopefully it will put a smile on some people’s faces!

I plan to share some of my previous similar interventions with you too and hope that I can visit many more hotels or holiday apartments in the near future.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Me: Nope, I am just donating my awesome creative skills to adding value to the cheap hotel deco and turning it into a unique, original piece of art.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Find more similar interventions HERE.

2015 Hotel Deco Busting

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments. (Part 11) Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen. (Teil 11)

So she, or her ghost, wanted to come to Frankfurt and inspire people here too.

Inspire us to honour the female role in the world more.

To put humanity back in the forefront.

To remind us to honour and welcome strangers in our society, especially when they possibly have fled from war-torn countries.

To remind women of their strengths and the important role we need to play in this world.

To remind us of old traditions, rituals and art which honoured our spirits and the connection to nature.

I hope you, and the guests who will stay in this room, enjoy their presence and the fact that you/they are viewing a very unique, personalized artwork.

… the mice are dancing on the roofs.

But hey, even a good artwork can use some fun and magic…

And now I let the pictures tell the rest:

And the results:

Finally the truth is out…

Intervention Against Tasteless Wall Decorations in Hotels and Holiday Apartments. (Part 11)
Intervention gegen geschmacklose Wanddekoration in Hotelzimmern und Ferienwohnungen. (Teil 11)