Cosmopolitan makes artwork integral to hotel

Fish swim in the elevator.

Geometric shapes float above the bar, even before you're buzzed.

Cigarette machines dispense creativity, not carcinogens.

Graffiti explodes off parking garage walls.

Don't question the concierge. It's art. Nearly everywhere.

"The idea is to present art that is accessible, conceptually and physically," says Doreen Remen, co-founder of Art Production Fund, the nonprofit, New York-based organization responsible for much of the video installations, outdoor art marquee, wall murals and other new media elements that turn The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas into what, depending on your perspective, could be a resort with art or an art gallery with a casino.

"You don't need a degree in art history to enjoy aspects of it."

Among eyefuls of artful touches, the most imposing inside are eight massive columns greeting guests near the registration area, playing videos running three to seven minutes on a continuous loop. Beyond intriguing content from creators ranging from newly emerging to established artists -- what exactly are those swirling hands drifting left to right, right to left, across the monitors? -- they're likely to entertain restless kids while parents idle on check-in lines.

"This is the first of its kind. There is no such situation where you can walk in a public place and be immersed in the work," Remen says. Installations vary from abstract to narrative. Several were commissioned especially for the Cosmo columns.

"It's appealing, not difficult to understand and right in your path. Between checking in and going to your room, you have this incredible cultural moment."

Smaller moments can be experienced in the casino and surrounding area as mounted monitors also display video art over everything from slot machines to lounges. (Plus the faux-fish splashing around the elevator's video panel.)

Entering through the parking garage? Impossible to miss "Wallworks," a quartet of murals by contemporary artists Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, Shinique Smith and Retna. No, it's not graffiti. It's art. Or to be precise -- graffiti art.

"It draws on two practices of public art," Remen says about the murals that utilize materials ranging from spray paint to wheat paste. "The public mural has been around for ages, and then its renegade sibling, graffiti. It's a creative exchange with the artist." Funky in the graffiti style, the murals also engage socio-political ideas and their underground placement is entirely appropriate.

"It's a garage, there are fumes, it's off the street," Remen says. "You have to stay within the environment. It makes you feel attached to the location."

Perhaps the oddest art elements are six "Art-o-mat" machines. Got five bucks? Get enriched. Over by the cigarette machine. Except nothing in here is puffable, unless cancer sticks get reclassified as art. "I started the first one in '97 as a one-time piece that kind of grew legs," says Clark Whittington of Winston-Salem, N.C., creator of the Art-o-mats, which are converted cigarette machines. Pull a lever and it dispenses miniartwork in cigarette-size boxes.

Mixing styles from artists worldwide, they include small paintings, ceramics, prints, jewelry and conceptual pieces.

"They were banning cigarette machines, and I went to a vending company and they had about 300 of them they were getting ready to scrap. They laughed at me and gave me one and said, 'We have 299 for you when you come back.' "

Sprinkled throughout The Cosmopolitan's second floor, five of the Art-o-mats were built for the hotel, the sixth once hosted by the Andy Warhol Museum. After spreading out from initial appearances in coffee shops, the machines eventually made it to New York's Whitney Museum. Accessibility is the aim.

"This is not for snobs. This is something to reach people, make them happy," Whittington says. "Some of these artists have never sold their art before, some of the people buying may have never bought art before. We're reaching this middle ground of the community that is sometimes alienated by the cliched structure of art. If people are introduced to art in a way where they're not talked down to, they warm up to it. It's cool to see."

Art-o-mat's roster of contributors is ever-expanding. "Local and statewide artists are invited to be a part of this, so tell everybody in Nevada," Whittington adds. "We need it."

On the more traditional side, The Cosmopolitan will host an artist-in-residence program from a studio space called P3. Perhaps its most public of public art projects, called "Pause," towers above the Strip from the top of The Cosmopolitan. An art experience for Strip strollers and drivers, it also features scrolling video art on a four-sided marquee. Up and running since late summer, "Pause" initially showcased conceptual video art by Yoko Ono and T.J. Wilcox.

"The idea for 'Pause' is different because it's really a break," Remen says. "There is a lot of great art that mimics the same pace of the signs you see on the Strip. The idea here is to do the opposite, so we were really focusing on work that slows down and tells a different story."

Showing through February are two works by installation artist Jennifer Steinkamp that change every 15 minutes. "Pause" artists will rotate every quarter. Among those being considered for future installations are Sam Taylor Wood and Pierre Huyghe.

"The goal of our project is to inspire the creative spirit and create a sense of discovery in our guests," says Cosmopolitan spokeswoman Alyssa Anderson. "Rather than going down the expected path of showing content that simply adds to an already overstimulated environment, we believe that the video art we'll be sharing with guests will engage them on a much deeper level and elevate their overall gaming experience."

Reminder to barflies at The Cosmopolitan: Those undulating blobs bobbing across the monitor are an artist's creation, not your hammered hallucinations.

Or, perhaps, both.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.