Meridian

Hotel art is peculiar in the way that you never see it anywhere else except in hotel rooms.

Just like hotel coffee has a peculiar taste that can only be found by drinking it in a hotel. 

However, you can transform any cup of coffee into hotel coffee by using that little packet of creamer that tastes like the paper it comes wrapped in (do not recommend).

But hotel art can be even more exclusive, more unique and introspective than art in a museum.

It's like waiting room art, but even more abstract, questionable, and aloof.

One time we were building furniture and Mike said I was being aloof and I needed to be more loof.

So then I focused up and we built a dresser.

True story.

The Holiday Inn in Meridian, Mississippi did a lot of things right on our adventure to the 74th National Square Dance Convention. 

1. They existed near a cool park

2. They gave me some goldfish

3. I got to spin a wheel for extra points!

But when we got to our room, the artwork was on another level. 

(Like, literally, I think we were on the fourth floor.)

Our room acted like it was some prestigious gallery, so it was a fun little game that we took upon ourselves to name it all. 

Here are the results:

"Honeycomb Havoc"

This first portrait appears in the bathroom next to the sink. Enjoy the reflection of my creepy face.

I christened this one "Honeycomb Havoc" because of its striking resemblance to the Mario Party Game:

The honeycomb is always the last to fall and covers the patron with bees as pictured above. In the Holiday Inn rendition, the honeycomb is yet to fall. However, friendships have already been broken because of accusations of "colluding with Mark" even though I was just counting the fruit and looking out for my game, playing my life.

It's a complex piece of art with a lot of emotional baggage.

Next, on the wall above the coffee maker, we have:

"Desire"

Because of its rotating likeness to fan blades, none of which can ever be found inside stuffy hotel rooms, Mike dubbed this one "Desire" after the ever-longing ache to have a mere ceiling fan above oneself while staying the night away from home.

This piece of art was important as, if you remember, this same "Desire" is one of his political initiatives should he ever run for office.

Supposedly, if you can't have it for real, a conceptual picture on the wall is supposed to suffice.

Next to some weird chair in the corner, hung this piece of work:

"Crashing Symbolism"

You can almost hear this work of art as you struggle to take it all in. It looks like cymbals, but also not. The lines are broken, but also sometimes not. It's a cacophony of realism and surrealism and makes your ears question what they just saw and makes your eyes unsure of what they just heard.

I suppose the weird chair is precisely for experiencing this...experience.

And then, suddenly, above the minifridge:

"Jackpot"

Mike called it such not only because of the green colors that look like pieces of money floating and falling all around, but also because there is a hint of sevens among the abstract shapes. This one was the most understandable, most congruous with the furnishings, and most forgettable.

And lastly, next to the bed, there hung:

Map of the Holiday Inn

Mike named this after waking up in the middle of the night, disoriented, and saw this, trying to figure out where he was.

I am generally good with directions and finding my way naturally but for some reason, Holiday Inn architecture gets me all turned around. This happened to me in Canada, too, when we stayed at the Holiday Inn in Sudbury last summer, so I thought it was a foreign country thing, but it turns out that Holiday Inns are just laid out weird. 

Their hotel floor plans are not logical lined-up little boxes. They are hallways that keep turning and also there are elevators and circles with stairs. 

I should have compared this to the evacuation map on the back of the door to see how true to form it was, but, alas, I was on the way to the pool and didn't have time for such comparisons.

The fun of architecture is in the building,

TWS