Z Movie Set

North of Bastia (Corsica) is a kitsch seaside hotel with a colourful and eccentric reputation that goes beyond its love affair with concrete posts and crazy paving. Its grounds double up as an alfresco impromptu modern art centre, with upcycled consumer waste, weathered raw rusty sculptures, metal wreckage, junk and debris. There is an air of neglect and abandonment that confer it that lived-in feel. Facts and fiction blur further as you venture deeper into the lush semi-tropical swampy gardens. The mind boggles and you start wondering whether what you see is meant to be showcased or you have actually entered a parallel universe... Is this a military testing area, an abandonned Soviet bloc resort, a failed Tiki trove, a jumble sale gone wrong or a (Rob) Zombie film set?

Across from the hotel, the pier is a crazy architectural feat, with totems, rusty sculptures, plaster figurines and incongru artefacts flirting with art from afar, broken down by shots of colour, incrustations and mosaics. It seems whoever concreted and partitioned off the creek with the pier had some fun and games trying to liven up the utilitarian look. You either get it or you don't. If in doubt ask the loyal crowd of afficionado hotel residents for their view. What is certain is that you will not remain indifferent to the rawness of it all and that's the name of the game!

The Festival d'arts "Singulièrement Brut" art fest has been in residence at the Hotel Caribou, 20228 Porticciolo, Cagnano, Corsica every Summer since 2006.

Source: All photography © Mirabelle Design Inspiration.