Janna Ullrich

The Grand 
Boemklats Motel 


turning the movements of sex 
into music

Concept & Art DirectionJanna Ullrich & Jurian VermoolenSound Design and EngineeringGhaith Kween QoutainyVolunteersYuna Song, Eva Cottin, Joris, Lucas

The Grand Boemklats Motel is a love shag that translates the movement of copulating festival visitors into ambient music. Participants rent half hour slots in a mahogany-wood-clad vintage trailer with a classy hotel interior. The trailer is mounted on soft springs that enlarge every loving movement made in it. 
   The bigger movements are picked up by strings on the outside that are connected to a Rube-Goldberg-inspired “musical fountain” in the motel lobby - consisting of drums, violins, bells, marbles and accordions that are played like a one-man (two-human, sometimes-three human) band.
Smaller, more tender movements are picked up by pressure sensors applied to different areas of the mattress, detecting which part of the mattress was used and therefore applying different sound effects to the music. Other guests of the motel listened in enjoying a drink in the lobby, cheering on and applauding the players of the instrument. The premiere took place at Festival De Lievelinge, NL in 2019. The Motel was fully booked and ridden. Created by Janna Ullrich and Jurian Vermoolen in collaboration with Ghaith Kween Qoutainy.

Concept & Art DirectionJanna Ullrich & Jurian VermoolenSound Design and EngeneeringGhaith Kween QoutainyVolunteersYuna Song, Eva Cottin, Joris, Lucas