HOTEL KRINGELEIN is a collection conceived from my fascination with hotels, the historic and cinematic, characterized as both hubs of intersecting wealth and glamour as well as havens of scandal and secrecy. Taking reference from avant-garde films in which the hotel is a central character in establishing a sense of mystery, surrealism, or the dystopian (Grand Hotel, Alphaville, The Silence, Last Year at Marienbad) I created characters inhabiting a once grandiose hotel, serving as its own centralized autonomous state after a climate apocalypse. The characters in this vignette are “The Baroness” and “The Porter”, serving as guest and employee respectively, and presenting the themes of duality, hierarchy, and madness within this universe.
The Grand Hotel Kringelein, a once celebrated metropolitan meeting point in early 20th century Europe, now finds itself relocated in the post-Arctic archipelago, one of the only surviving pockets of humanity. The “guests” have only the remnants of their former elegant livelihoods, while the “staff” are subjugated to both the harsh exterior landscape, now barren and radioactive, as well as the even harsher class system imposed on them by this artificial society. People come. People go. But no one knows what is really happening behind the closed doors of their decaying suites and imperial ballrooms…
LOOK I. - “THE BARONESS”
The Baroness awaits her visitor.
The Baroness has undergone a sense of mysticism during these bleak, hopeless days of uncertainty. But is she clairvoyant, or simply going insane?
She is haunted by the presence of another entity, a spirit which takes the form of her own former forgotten self.
The growth of radioactive mold develops a luxurious glow.
The Baroness can wait no longer. She must escape the uneasiness of this room.
LOOK II. - “THE PORTER”
Meanwhile, The Porter tends to guests in the Gilded Ballroom.
The Porter is late to meet the Baroness. The service elevator is necessary.
The Porter arrives. The Baroness is nowhere to be found.
She should return at any moment. The Porter is ready for her.
And with that, The Porter continues tending to other preferred guests.
