a conceptual layer in storytelling
The hotel's creative narrative, alchemy, is given life through a series of commissions by world-renowned artists and designers - the seemingly magical processes of transformation, creation, or combination are evident in each installation and the hotel's collection as a whole.
More broadly speaking, the Jackalope Art Collection's curatorial concept presents rebellious pieces as a conceptual layer in storytelling. Often immersive, these pieces are used to create transformative experiences in hospitality, taking guests on a journey through an ever-evolving world of emotions and expressions.
The collection currently comprises international works by Rick Owens, Rolf Sachs and Tracey Emin, Emily Floyd, Nick van Woert, Tatsuo Miyajima, and Random International.
Having captivated over half a million patrons worldwide, RANDOM INTERNATIONAL's monumental artwork made its southern hemisphere debut in St Kilda, Melbourne, with over 90,000 visitors experiencing the magic of Rain Room during a sell-out six month season.
A 100-square metre field of continuous rainfall, Rain Room is a responsive environment engaging all the senses, allowing you to be fully immersed in the rain while simultaneously protected from it. A globally significant work, Rain Room seeks to explore how human relationships with each other and nature are increasingly mediated through technology.
Rain Room has run for three sold out seasons, welcoming over 150,000 people to control the rain in the purpose built Jackalope Pavilion in Melbourne's St Kilda.
Emily Floyd's works are immediately inviting. Be it sculpture, print or public artwork, Floyd's bright palette, expertly rendered geometric forms and the incorporation of text invite interaction. But while the works are accessible, they are never simple.
Created by conceptual artist and designer, Rolf Sachs, this piece builds a largescale light from familiar chemistry equipment. The flowing cables give it a sense of movement and flow akin to the human body, transcending its natural functionality, creating something unique, yet familiar. Sachs challenges the way materials are used and handled, through constant experimentation and invention; he thrives on pushing materials to their limits to create something new and surprising.
Andrew Hazewinkel, who grew up on the Mornington Peninsula, is an artist that works with sculpture video and photography. In his work we see an abiding interest in ancient objects and how they might be woven into the everyday realm. Drawing from art history, geology, surrealism and natural history these works explore the slippery interactions between our memories and history, between our bodies and the materials they rub up against and the role that this plays is shaping the very human act of remembering.
Kate Robertson's inimitable photography evokes alchemic moods through the transformation of material and psychical states. By expertly combining multiple photographic techniques, Robertson aims to highlight the sensory modes through which a certain healing may be felt. In her sublime series for Jackalope, Robertson conveys four stages of alchemy (Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas, and Rubedo) that represent the process of connecting the self, through the meeting and aligning of the unconscious and the conscious. The resulting photographs are more than just a memory of an artefact or experience, they breathtakingly communicate the life of the image through its transformative state.
American fashion designer Rick Owens began his first furniture collection in Paris in 2007. His furniture designs can be seen as a direct extension of his fashion lines and overall multi-dimensional aesthetic, creating sculptural pieces that verge on art yet function as furniture. The combination of materials he employs, from antlers to alabaster, wood to smooth stone, convey a melding between high design and functionality, like his clothing. Oftentimes oversized, his large, brutalist pieces of furniture vary in colour and texture, combining a stark modernist look with contemporary luxury.
Collaboration
Jackalope Hotel's debut property has been conceived in collaboration with a roll call of Australia's preeminent creatives. The result is a reimagination of luxury and a new voice in high-end Australian accommodation.
This commitment to working with the very best creatives, to custom-making, curating and commissioning every detail, has delivered a hotel brimming with art, design, and stories told at every turn.