an artist

Shutdown, 2004, single-channel video, 6 min
(from the video series Stages)

The Gintaras Hotel, which was one of the most luxurious hotels in Vilnius with a large popular restaurant, shut down in 2002. This Soviet hotel has recently been renovated, and its name has been changed. Consequently, the old atmosphere of the hotel vanished. All that has remained unchanged is the sign Gintaras on the roof of the building and the disused restaurant with its fancifully decorated stage. These remaining attributes of Gintaras Hotel have been captured in the video, which emanates nostalgia: the sign of the non-existent hotel is flashing and inviting us to come in, the empty hall of the restaurant resounds with the music from the show held on the occasion of the closing-down of Gintaras Hotel, while a member of the band Bobų vasara (Indian Summer) and a bar-maid share their recollections about the closing-down party, which carried the luxury and clamour of the hotel into oblivion.