Bulldog Inn Art Show

A couple of weekends ago, Missy and I headed out to the BULLDOG INN ART SHOW. It was this totally crazy installation and performance art exhibit that was held in various rooms at the Bulldog Inn, this seedy 60s-style motel on the outskirts of Athens. Art snobs, hipsters, and townies made their way from room to room, partying and frolicking in the surrealness of it all...the craziest thing about the night was the fact that, in between the rooms that were showing art, there were ACTUAL GUESTS staying there. What did they think of all the noise and commotion happening outside their rooms? Did they even know what exactly was going on? It was both a strange and magical night and it felt like we had stepped into a DAVID LYNCH movie....





The first room we checked out was the "PARADISE ROOM" - they removed all the furniture and put a "swimming pool" filled with CONFETTI AND GLITTER in the middle of the room. Missy couldn't resist and get in the pool herself...





















The next room we went into was the, ahem..."VAGINA ROOM". Spectators entered the room by crawling through the opening and then crawling through this tube. The tube had a couple of "SPHINCTERS" that you had to squeeze through - elastic openings that stretched as you crawled through them. At the end of the tube was the "WOMB"...in the womb was a faceless "WORKER DRONE" sitting at a desk, performing some sort of pointless and meaningless task - CREEPY! Then, to exit the womb, you had to crawl through another series of tubes and then finally, crawl out of the same vagina you entered...











In the "HOSE ROOM", there were these hoses suspended from the ceiling that dripped water into various buckets, tubs, and plastic kiddie pools...







The "RIOT GRRRL ROOM" had video projections on the ceiling and words like "slut" and "whore" written in lipstick all over the windows and mirrors...





The "STRAWBERRY ROOM" had this giant INFLATABLE SCULPTURE writhing on the bed while this funny song about strawberries played in the background. The whole room smelled of strawberries too, with the help of scented candles and strawberry-scented air fresheners...



One room was filled with various video monitors...in the middle of the bed, a BERNSTEIN BEARS record played while this dude in weird pajamas recited poetry over it...









In the "MUSES ROOM", girls in white robes lounged on a bed while a video projection flickered through the smoke-filled room...



The "POKER ROOM" had DOGS PLAYING POKER in it...





One of the favorite rooms of the night was the "FOREST ROOM" - it looked like trees had grown up through the motel room floor and up through the ceiling. Even the bathroom had trees "growing" in it...









In the "PINWHEEL ROOM", pinwheels blanketed a couple of beds while a pair of oscillating fans spun them 'round...







"THE CHEESE ROOM" stunk of cheese. The movie "PURPLE RAIN" was projected onto one wall. There was a sculpture of a vagina (again!) with a microphone in it. While one guy rapped into the microphone, another dude played keyboards, while another guy, in costume, danced around with HOT MELTED NACHO CHEESE smeared all over his chest. There was also single slices of American cheese strewn about, further enhancing the stink in the room...









In "THE WAND ROOM" there was a WIZARD who would give you a MAGIC WAND if you traded something cool with him. Missy managed to get the last of his wands by trading some gumball machine trinkets she found at the bottom of her purse. The room was decorated with candles and all these weird sculptures...











Throughout the evening, there were a couple of dudes who were handing out these "DAD BUCKS" that you could trade for these drawings and illustrations they had amassed in the back of this car that was blasting various Madonna songs. We looked through their sketches, but didn't end up getting a Dad Buck until the end of the night. By then, they had already closed up shop. Oh well. By that time, the whole art show was devolving into a drunken, violent mess. That was our cue to call it a night and head back in to town...