Hotel Theory explored the performance of theory in contemporary art and how it is circulated, used, and communicated in the arts. The exhibition suggests an art historical shift from theory as a tool to theory as form, from theory as explanation to theory as medium. Hotel Theory was structured around three elements: Wayne Koestebaum’s 2007 book of the same name where the author’s reading of Heidegger’s Being in Time runs parallel to Liberace and Lana Turner’s old Hollywood misadventures; Fluxus artist Ben Vautier’s 1985 installation Theory Room, where the artist graffitied the gallery with passages from conversations with fellow artists during the installation of a group exhibition in Munich; and archival materials and ephemera that present the history of the inclusion of speech – lectures, presentations, panel discussions – into the gallery space.
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