The Hotel That Time Forgot

Across the border from Syria, in a forgotten Lebanese city, sits an unexpected building, The Grand Hotel Palmyra. The hotel hasn't closed since its opening in 1874, even as war has raged just outside its doors. The owner Rima Husseini says, "No one has a right to touch hotel Palmyra, except for time." I became fascinated with the hotel when I first came upon a video showing its interior. It became clear that I wanted to create a sonic orchestral world to relive its memories. In her new eponymous video installation, Pendulum, Mami Kosemura sought to create a mysterious and unrealistic atmosphere, while using a real structure as its basis. This structure is the main salon of the Dillon + Lee townhouse, where Kosemura spent the summer. The artist wanted to abide by two self-induced rules: first to make the content of her video and the installation be of the same place. The second rule was to introduce movement, but one that is simple and rhythmic, as in a pendulum. In the installation, two mirrors in the main salon are turned into projection screens to display the videos shot in the room. The video shows the space of the salon, as a mirror would reflect it, but Kosemura's alternative version depicts the interior sliding horizontally from left to right, and right to left at regular intervals. Kosemura has decided to incorporate the errors that happens inevitably during a video editing process to further disorient the viewer. As it relates to The Hotel that Time Forgot, this room is meant to represent a room in The Grand Hotel Palmyra and is filled with every day actions. The pendulum gives the viewer the sense of loss of time, and blurred memories.