The Hotel Plug-Inn is part of the singular “hotel chain” that Papadimitriou is slowly putting in place in the various places where she is invited to work; basic lodgings which the artist invites visitors to “occupy” or squat. In the piece presented in the Canaries, the hotel is located in a pre-existing building, the castle of San Gabriel in Arrecife, a labyrinth of irregular rooms that the artist has transformed into an endless medley of ambiences with furniture built for the occasion, plays of lights and shadows, projections, and sound installations. The furnishings of each one of the rooms (reception room, reading room, dream room, bedrooms) have been designed and built personally by the artist using the cayucos (boats used by immigrants) found on the island. The rest of the materials and objects were collected during her stay in Lanzarote. These are spaces for reflection, encounters, consciousness and exchange around one of the biggest issues of our recently inaugurated century: immigration.

Maria Papadimitriou

Excerpt from “The Plug Inn Hotel,” in exh. cat. Primer Bienal de Arquitectura, Arte y Paisaje de Canarias, p. 264