my honest thoughts on hospital of emotions in LA (AI SLOP!!!!)

I saw ads for this show popping up everywhere, and people posting on reddit asking about it, so I thought I should share my experience after visiting last Sunday (May 31st). I’m not an art critic by any means. just a rando with an interest in the various artsy things going on in this city. so please take what I have to say with a grain of salt.

TL;DR: Hated it. Expensive, way too much AI, and only worth going if you just want to get cute pics for social media.

First of all, I LOVED the concept. I really enjoyed my time at Meow Wolf, so I thought this exhibition would be something along those lines. A real hospital transformed into an art show called Hospital of Emotions? Yeah, I’m in. The price tag is definitely steep (~$60 per person), but I know how much it costs just to exist outside these days, so I figured, why not support some artists?

But my positive experience pretty much ended right there.

When I arrived, the first issue was parking: $20. Fine, we live in LA, and I’m pretty numb to parking prices at this point. I paid and went inside. But then I realized I had to wait in a series of lines just to actually get in. Mind you, the $60 tickets are for specific entry time slots, so I was expecting a little better crowd control. Instead, there was a line to be "admitted" into the reception area, a line at the reception desk to scan tickets, and then—because the exhibition is a walkthrough from the top floor to the bottom—a line to use the elevator to get to the top floor of the hospital.

After about 30 minutes of waiting in lines, I finally entered the first part of the exhibition on Floor Six.

The first thing I noticed was the music. I guess they were trying to make the experience immersive, so each hallway (which roughly maps onto one emotion, like sadness) has thematic music playing. But the music was AWFUL. it was SO OBVIOUSLY AI-generated!

I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions and accuse someone of using AI without proof, but trust me, if you heard it, you would know. You'd recognize it instantly. It has this cheap, plastic quality you just can’t miss. Plus, the info signs are purposely vague, using phrases like "modern technology" Come on.

Then there are the rooms themselves. I mainly have two issues with them:

• First: AI! Some rooms use AI in such an obvious, blatant way that I just wanted to scream and close my eyes. (See here). What I HATED most was that there was absolutely no declaration of AI use anywhere. I am by no means an AI hater in general (I actually use it a lot), but I think the least you can do is be transparent about it. Just like artists declare whether they used oil, acrylic, or watercolor, just TELL US. I still would have shown up if they disclosed the AI use, because I’m genuinely curious about how AI can be used in art. But if you don’t tell me, it just feels like you’re lying.
• Second: The lack of coherent themes. There was a vague attempt to organize these rooms by emotion, but I don’t think it landed at all. The creative director (if there even was one) missed the mark because the rooms don't feel cohesive. Because of that, a lot of it feels repetitive. There were probably six different rooms showing plants and flowers growing randomly, and another three rooms just showing mundane objects in large quantities. A lot of the spaces feel incredibly low-effort, poorly thought out, and entirely lacking a real "immersive" feel.

I’m not saying every single room was bad; there were definitely a few hidden gems here and there. But overall, my experience was terrible. I hated how much AI I was force-fed. If I sound angry, it's because I am.

So far, only one review on Google Maps is negative and points out the AI aspect. Every other review is glowing, which makes me feel like I’m losing my mind and drove me to write this rant.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. Please support real artists. Support honest artists doing real work.