Checking in at Hotel Democracy - Thomas Hirshhorn, 2003, MoMA PS1
Hotel Democracy invites us to, at first, think small. Children's toys, step stools and shelves populate many of the 5' x 4' x 4' rooms, which are stacked in a 2 room tall grid. Nearly all of the spaces include makeshift furniture, as well - cardboard beds being the most common, with the occasional suitcase playing the role of a futon. Possibly the most definitive element of Hotel Democracy are the prints that line the sides of each room. Each space defines a different attempt and failure of democracy implemented by different countries and societies. The prints depict military violence, child soldiers, and war ravaged landscapes.
In Critical Laboratory: The Writings of Thomas Hirshhorn, Hirshhorn describes his piece as "an uncertain building... present[ing] this confusion [of Democracy] without judgment, without hierarchy". The images within the rooms are taken not from one place in particular - the varied locations of the depictions of each individual failure of Democracy, without mention of the path to its collapse, or even those responsible, embody this goal.
Hirshhorn’s training as a designer is evident in Hotel Democracy - it appears as though it was assembled in a hurry with ordinary materials as if to serve as shelter in an emergency. The scavenged nature of the decor evoke - by design - innocence and hope lost.
I like the last sentence you write ” The childlike nature of the decor, by design, evokes innocence and hope lost.” This is the part I missed in my own decoding of his work. After your words, I think the childlike nature also represents the hope lost by idealists. This work is also a giant playing house. In this aspect, the military scenes on the interior walls are unthinkable. In traditional thinking of a playhouse should be filled with the longing of a beautiful life, but the cruel reality has been implanted. Hence, your “lost hope” is a Home Run to hit my mind and helps me to bridge the form and concept of this art piece.
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