HYLAND
about the artists' intentions. It's meant to be an immersive
and transformative experience."
"Art on demand," the contemporary video art available
on the hotel's interactive room TVs that's replaced all
pay-TV-porn movies (in every Stordalen Nordic Choice
Hotel) is certainly a conversation starter (it has generated
a wave of publicity). So are the sundry items in room
drawers: Moods of Norway underwear, the Yarok Feed
Your Do Styling Whip, the Smile Lab "touchup"—and
various extravagances: the lush blankets, rainforest
shower, glinting gold-n-black interiors, curated music
programs, and a subterranean, two-story spa where a
Rumanian master performs oil and towel magic in the
sauna.
Yet the one piece that goes for the jugular, and
makes you look deeply within yourself is Thiis-Evensen's
Individual Freedom. Prominently located at the entrance
to the FRU-K dining room, it poignantly details the
angst-filled liberation of these Somali women and the
struggle to shed their hijabs (veils), a visual thought on
empowerment and moving towards other freedoms.
Stordalen could've placed it somewhere less visible,
further away from the lavish restaurant and its gleaming
racks of pricey vintage wines. But since the work casts
its spell in the midst of great wealth, he seems to be
urging his guests to realize "money shouldn't steal your
heart away." That the art here and in the nearby galleries
is a truer, more believable seductress.
An equally powerful message—even an indictment—
that wryly and irreverently chides wealth, rampant
consumerism and Modern Age conformity—keynotes
the dystopian works in the Pushwagner Gallery two
