The Westin Hotel, in downtown ATL, was hit by a tornado in 2008. The missing windows which make a remarkable surface design, sat unfixed for more than 2 years.

. . . In my humble opinion, ATL should have capitalized on the aesthetic opportunity disaster created. Imagine an exterior design in yellow and dark blue that honored the mark of a natural force--it would be a downtown landmark in an otherwise gray and beige skyscape. . .but artist, and friend, John Otte took the concept even further. . .he had the brilliant idea that the existing surface design should be filled with moving light. Together, we made a ficticious (and quite economically preposterous) video submission to LeFLash (our own local version of Le Nuit Blanche, 24 hr light festival in Paris). Otte then showed it at an exhibition he curated at Whitespace called, "Summer Falls." (AUG 2009) here are some video sketches.

Remarkably, we got a nibble, when the PR professional who works on the Westin Hotel campaign actually came to the opening. She got the joke (I think) and was interested in showing the video. (but she was not interested in proposing such a public light installation to the actual people who could implement it. . .) We were hoping at the least for an opportunity to show the video in the lobby of the building. . .she wanted to buy it for inclusion in a promotional video for the unveiling of the fixed windows. But, alas, in the end, neither idea came to fruition. . .ho hum.