There are a handful of practitioners who have recreated or simply introduced a new level of quality to a part of Australian production simply by virtue of migrating here.
Upholsterer Eric Ahlfors is such a person. In his case he emigrated from France.
Eric and his team re-upholstered much of the furniture at Hotel Hotel. Their particular focus was on returning some of the more elaborate armchairs to their former glory. These chairs now sit in the room, apartments and the lounge.
An exhibition of ceramics curated by Ricky Swallow at David Kordansky Gallery, Los Angeles in the American summer of 2013. Stunningly economical in its design and production, ‘Grapevine’ traces the work of Magdalena Suarez Frinmkess, Michael Frimkess, John Mason, Ron Nagle and Peter Shire.
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A collection of images created by Paul Salveson between 2006 and 2011 in New York and Virginia. Salveson has constructed a series of still life arrangements within the context of a domestic environment in which everyday household objects are used to create at times disturbingly hilarious images.
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In recent years Benjamin Armstrong has established himself as one of contemporary Australian art’s most inimitable practitioners. Tracing his alien glass sculptures, stunning painting practice and working methodology, this wonderfully produced volume is an equally beautiful and important document of a young artist at the height of his powers. Holding a Thread comes courtesy of astute Sydney publishing house Emblem. Highly recommended.
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This publication brings imaginative vision to the notion of monograph-as-art-practice. It functions both as an artist book and as a survey of Australian artist Elizabeth Newman’s paintings, installations, objects, collages, text works and writing over the past three decades. The book documents around 150 works in full colour, and gathers together many of Newman’s own written pieces, along with new commissioned texts from Juan Davila, Damiano Bertoli, Geoff Lowe (with Jacqueline Riva), Kate Briggs, Eve Sullivan and Michael Graf.
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This volume traces the ceramic and design work of the brilliant Takashi Sugimoto, Super Potato founder extra-ordinaire.
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Susan Sontag photographed by Peter Hujar (1975)
Benjamin Franklin's daily planner
Gertrude Stein photographed by Horst P. Horst (1946)
Gertrude Stein found inspiration in her car. She would sit in it daily and write poetry on scraps of paper.
Gerhard Richter photographed by Lothar Wolleh (1970)
Gerhard Richter has stuck to the same routine for years. He wakes at 6.15am and makes breakfast for his family. He’s in at his studio by 8am. He stays there until the evening (with a short escape for lunch). His days aren’t filled with painting, but planning and procrastination. He doesn’t start painting until he has created a crisis for himself.
The only truly sustainable product is the one that doesn’t exist…That was the starting point to the ethos that has shaped the branding exercise that Round came up with for Hotel Hotel – beg, borrow and steal.
The idea matches our ideal of a more environmentally sustainable way of doing things. Round’s idea was to source (read beg) existing disused or excess hotel materials from hotels around the world. From hotel menus, hotel writing pads, bar coasters, letterheads and envelopes…even going so far as to hijack (read steal) online advertisements and overlaying them with the Hotel Hotel branding. A grand vision of begging, borrowing, and stealing for the sake of reusing materials rather than making new ones.
Beautifully, the idea also mirrors an art series produced by Martin Kippenberger, hard-partying German artist who did a series of drawings in the 80s and 90s on hotel stationery that he and his friends collected during their hotel stays. The work is compiled in an aptly named (and proving that things that have been thought have always been thought before) book called… Hotel Hotel. And a second book called; wait for it… Hotel Hotel Hotel. Hotel Hotel (us) was not named after Hotel Hotel (the book book) but we are loving the synchronicity.
It was a bold, bold idea. And the execution proved difficult.
It was imagined that hotels around the world would give us their old stock and let us stamp it with the Hotel Hotel insignia. The problem is sometimes when you borrow people’s stuff and use it for your own purpose; it won’t come back looking the same as when they gave it to you. And this worries people, understandably. So far, we haven’t found any hotels in Australia that are up for it.
The insignia toolkit is made up of ten stamps, a wax seal, a die cut tool and an embossing tool. These tools let reception and concierge be the ones that execute the branding.
So people ready for action but no paper.
What’s the next best solution? To use out of stock paper from paper suppliers destined for the incinerator. Not just any stock would do however, going back to the initial ideals of environmental sustainability it had to be recycled stock so as not to create a perceived demand for any kind of un-recycled paper stock.
Success. The dead stock has been printed with our artist in residence Lee Grant’s photography, on a risograph printer (wielded by Xavier of Dawn Press), with all of the lovely imperfections that a riso provides.
Aussen Alster Hotel, Martin Kippenberger, 1989
Kastens Hotel Luisenhof, Martin Kippenberger, 1989
From Louis-Ferdinand Céline’s ‘The Church – A Comedy in Five Acts’.
Image of Nikos, our CFO, shot by Lee Grant.
The secret of Mike Whitney’s successful cricketing career is that he can bend from the hips. We learnt this vital sporting fact the day Mike came to stay. He led the ritual of limbering up in the Monster salon. We reached for the ceiling, we strained for our toes, we talked and we twisted. Turns out Mike is a bendy guy – he’s been stretching each day for the past 30 years.
Edwin Odermatt re-upholstered lots of our furniture.
From his workshop in Sydney, Atelier Furniture, Edwin Odermatt is known for his expert cutting, sensitivity to form and ability to accurately recreate demanding vintage silhouettes. Edwin’s work is an integral aspect of the Hotel Hotel interiors.
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Heat the cream, milk and chamomile in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat and allow to steep for 1 hour. Strain and discard the chamomile leaves. Whisk the egg yolk and sugar together until pale and then pour over the chamomile infused milk and cream. Return to a saucepan and stir continuously over very low heat until the mixture reaches 87°C. Allow to cool and then churn it in an ice cream making machine according to your ice cream making machine’s specifications.
The crumbleIn a stand up mixer, combine the butter and flour and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined. Add the sugar, almond meal and oats and continue to mix until combined. Set aside.
The rhubarb and strawberry compoteIn a medium saucepan, combine the diced rhubarb, honey, sugar, zest and juice and cook over medium heat for about 10 minutes until the rhubarb is tender. Add sea salt and set aside. In a separate saucepan combine the hulled and halved strawberries and 250gm sugar and cook over medium heat stirring regularly for about 10 minutes. Combine the cooked rhubarb and strawberry together and add the sea salt.
Assemble and servePreheat your oven to 180°C. Pour the rhubarb and strawberry compote into 8 individual oven proof dishes or a large baking dish (about 30cm by 20cm) or whatever you have lying around really… a big Le Creuset frying pan will do the trick. Scatter the crushed pink peppercorns over the fruit and top with the crumble. Bake for about 20 minutes for a large dish or about 10 minutes for individual crumbles. Serve with a scoop of the chamomile ice cream.
