Concept by Christian Philipp Müller

Organization by Selektion Deutscher Luxushotels

Selection:
Brenner's Park Hotel & Spa, Baden-Baden
Excelsior Hotel Ernst, Cologne
Fairmont Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten, Hamburg
Hotel Nassauer Hof, Wiesbaden
Mandarin Oriental, Munich
Park Hotel Bremen
The Ritz-Carlton, Berlin
Hotelschlossfuschl, Hof Bei Salzburg, Austria

Portfolio Text:

The Selektion Deutscher Luxushotels — a confederation of seven German Grand Hotels with an affiliate in Austria — has commissioned the Swiss artist Christian Philipp Müller, now a resident of New York, to develop an art project to commemorate its 20th anniversary. In view of the particular nature of the project, it seemed obvious that Müller adopt the role of the generic traveller — as in some of his earlier work — and food critic. Thus Müller visited all eight hotels, lived in each one for a while, dined there, and combined his individual stays with detailed research conducted on site. A travel journal emerged based on several interviews with employees — from chambermaid to general manager — and photographic impressions; it reflects and comments on the experience of this trip. Excerpts from the journal have been included in this portfolio.

Each hotel is represented on various levels in this portfolio, which recreates the route in its structure: using objects that have been provided by each hotel, Müller staged eight arrangements reminiscent of 17th Century Flemish still lifes replete with their symbolic charge. They represent the "essence" of the eight Grand Hotels and evoke a Proustian "le temps perdu" — an idea of “timeless values,” such as individuality and exclusivity in an era that seems to be characterized by interchangeability and ubiquity. The objects in the still life embody that personal, "inalienable" element. At the same time, they allude to the aesthetics of decoration, furnishings and fittings, as well as the culinary achievements of the hotels — not least because, as the French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu pointed out, a "comprehensive understanding of cultural consumerism [ ... ] can only then be guaranteed if [ ... ] the most refined taste for the most exquisite objects is combined with the most elementary response of the taste buds and the palette."

A further level of interpretation is formed by eight double pages, which link an glossary of salient terms with photographs that have the appearance of footnotes; quotations from prominent personalities in the margins conjure up the aspect of an imaginary guest book. The terms — mainly proffered as "readymades" not unlike the objects of a still life — also give rise here to an imaginary portrait of the cooperating luxury hotels and their promise of the unique and the unforgettable. The element of artistic reflection is articulated in the selection of stagings that Christian Philipp Müller has put into a new perspective — both analytically and humorously — during the course of his trip.

Text by Barbara Hess
Translated by Tim Connell