An artistic installation made headlines in Germany: in the luxurious Dolder Hotel, a figure of a sleeping tramp was installed in the lobby next to the reception desk, strikingly believable.
Writes UNN with references to Bild and Neue Zürcher Zeitung.
Is it still art or just bad taste?
He went to the Dolder Hotel and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw a homeless man sleeping there. It was only when he got closer that he realized it was not a real person, but a mannequin.
Is this a deliberate provocation, a humane gesture, or just obscene entertainment for people who have everything but money to worry about?
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The artificial homeless man is a figure called “The Traveler” by American sculptor Duane Hanson (1925-1996).
The American painter and sculptor was born in Minnesota and spent most of his career in South Florida. Duane Hanson is known for his realistic life-size sculptures of people. He has cast and worked with a variety of materials (polyester resin, fiberglass, bondo and bronze).
Figure “Traveler” (1988): a man is taking a nap, exhaustedly waiting for a change of planes to catch a flight home. He is sunburned, hungover, in a pile of cheap luggage.
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The homeless man at the reception is part of the hotel's own art collection.
Hotel director Marcus Granelli told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper that the hotel wants to become “a little more daring” than others with this figure.
“Selling rooms alone is not enough today. We have to entertain people,” he said.