A Richard Prince cowboy photograph hangs in the lobby of The Thief hotel in Oslo. (via pocketoslo.com)
The owner of a hotel chain in Scandinavia has decided to ditch the pornography channels in all of his properties, and at one, he’s replacing the porn with contemporary art.
The Nordic Choice Hotels are owned by billionaire Petter Stordalen, who’s worried about the relationship between pornography and the trafficking and prostitution of children. In order to “contribute to the important work UNICEF is doing to combat this problem,” in Stordalen’s words, he’s decided that all 171 of his hotels will no longer offer porn-on-demand.
And since The Thief, a Nordic Choice holding in Oslo, is already an art hotel, they’ve decided to start a new program, replacing porn-on-demand with video-art-on-demand. The press release says only that it will offer “a choice of high-end contemporary video art,” but the Guardian has the scoop on at least one work you’ll be able to find: Sam Taylor-Wood’s “Still Life” (2001). Not bad, although apparently there will only be a total of nine pieces on offer, which, depending on the works, may not last you nearly as long as a porno.
The Thief, it turns out, has an in-house curator — Sune Nordgren, the former director of Norway’s National Museum — as well as art installed throughout it, including commissioned elevator videos by Julian Opie. Stordalen is also a a donor to the neighboring Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, which means Thief guests get in for free. That perk reminded us of the Clarion Hotel in Stockholm that offers rooms in exchange for art, and now we can’t stop wondering if Scandinavia is a little-known artists’ utopia, and if everyone in Bushwick should move there.
I recently stayed at the Thief, and it was wonderful! The rooms were beautiful and had REAL art in them. There is SO much art throughout – including a Warhol I’ve never seen before.
The whole area of Tjuvholmen where the hotel and museum are located is full of public art and right on the water. Such a wonderful place – it is kindof a little art utopia. 😉 Highly recommend at least visiting the area if you’re going to Olso!