First featured in Hi-Fructose Vol. 12, and soon our “Turn The Page: The First Ten Tears of Hi-Fructose” retrospective at Virginia MOCA, Scott Hove is an unforgettable name for his decadent, yet nightmarish “Cakeland” series that includes snarling ‘taxidermied’ cakes and elaborate installations. But his works are more than just a sweet experience. Hove’s use of dualistic imagery in the cakes’ fangs, horns and switchblades are there to add psychological depth and force the viewer to choose how to integrate the dark elements into the lightness of the cake. For years, the Los Angeles based artist’s primary goal has been to make the experience as “satisfying” as possible, which makes his latest project all the more savory.
Artist Scott Hove, with one of his snarling ‘frosted’ works, at the opening of his “Cake Maze”.
Hove’s giant “Cake Maze” opened to the public on Valentine’s Day eve, the sweetest holiday of all, at Think Tank Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles and is an immersive and interactive 7,500 square foot installation. He has been working on the project for months, and spent the two weeks prior to its debut setting up, and practically living, in the space. During a walking tour of the maze, Hove pointed out to Hi-Fructose the pain-staking detail that went into every aspect of the space, from the detailing on the cakes, which has evolved to more floral and decorative designs than his previous works, to the thousands of cherries and orange slices that decorate its 6 chambers.
Viewers find themselves ‘caught in the rain’ in the artist’s first-ever video installation.
While moving through the space’s fun-house like mirrored halls, viewers can enjoy Hove’s signature disco ball lit salon, a jail cell lined with animal bones and horns from the artist’s own collection, and notably his first video installation which changes from a cool blue rainy scene to a hot, blazing fire complete with fire dancers, courtesy of Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity. The adjacent art gallery also features an exhibition of new ‘frosted’ wall mounted pieces like fire arms and animalistic busts, and cakes topped by sexy stripper shoes. Though all of it looks good enough to eat, Scott Hove’s work also embraces the fakeness that makes it so strangely primal and uniquely captivating. The maze will be on view for the rest of the month of February.
Oakland based artist