THE PEEKABOOUTIQUE EFFECT : OOHS AND AHHS OF PEEKING INTO THE CREATIVE SHOPHOUSE BOUTIQUE HOTEL

Abstract

Very often, ‘creativity’ is loosely associated with the cause of an outwardly observable ‘dynamism’, rendering it into nothing much more than another frivolous descriptive word. The author believes that there should be more to this than that which meets the eye –instead of seeing creativity as ‘product’, it could be understood as ‘practice’. Thus, this paper questions where the moment of creativity really is, how it is reached, and if it would involve a more intimate and personal affair. To facilitate this research, a framework relating platform, subject and creative moment relationships is established, while discursively incorporating a literature review of an article which positions ‘shophouse boutique hotels’ as creative platforms contributory to the creative city of Singapore. As the paper goes on, platform spaces are understood to be ambiguous and also ‘void’, that is, void of prescriptions. The paper then posits that the process of creativity is internal, with the subject encountering epiphany with respect to the platform. He is triggered to suspension, conversion, and then ‘actions’. This paper peeks a little deeper into one shophouse boutique hotel in Singapore, proposing that these hotel platforms possess three eclectic auras leading to their ambiguity: the ‘shophouse’, the ‘hotel’, and lastly the ‘boutique’. As the subject encounters the platform, he meets with the auras and goes through a series of intimate ‘arousing interactions’ which open and unload –much of the drama is internalised within the subject. At the end, this paper finds a creative moment and achieves a positive outlook.