
Baggage rack, unfurled
On this Easter Sunday, it is perhaps a good occasion to wonder what exactly DOES constitute art and sculpture in a luxury hotel? Three weeks ago today the gal was confronted by a 1967 Mini in the ground floor lobby of the gorgeously fascinating 25hours Bikini Hotel in Berlin – and it had three silver bicycles, real bicycles, hanging overhead. Three days ago, in Florida, the incredibly stylish Four Seasons at the Surf Club, in Surfside, displays a myriad of old photos, art works and sculptures. It also, somewhat contrarily, has on one wall what can only be described as a rumpled old pink blanket held in place with big metal studs.
Well, if that is good enough for Nadim Ashi, the billionaire owner of this amazing hotel and its adjacent residences, it is good enough for me, though it would look really out of place in my own home. By contrast, the metal and leather baggage stands, which are not meant to be sculptures as such, are so stylish that they would fit anywhere, into anyone’s home.
But real art should be controversial, and perhaps a pink blanket is yet another feature that makes a luxury hotel into a general talking point…. happy Easter!