Anonymous British artist Mr Phantom has pulled off an audacious stunt by infiltrating the hotel housing the cast of the BBC series Celebrity Traitors near Inverness Airport. Over two consecutive nights, he slipped past security, installed dozens of artworks throughout the building, and projected a giant image onto the hotel's facade while celebrities including Maya Jama, Bella Ramsey, Jerry Hall, and James Blunt slept inside.
The artworks installed across the Courtyard by Marriott form part of a collection originally sold for £555,000, though the pieces used are prints, not the originals. Security guards were reportedly left bemused as new artworks continued to appear across the site.
Mr Phantom told the Mirror: 'Millions watch who the Celebrity Traitors are on TV. That’s the point of the show. But the real traitors are decided elsewhere, in Westminster, in the media, and in the institutions that shape public belief.' He added, 'Everyone plays a role. Everyone performs loyalty. The game never stops. It just changes location.'
There is no official connection between the artwork and the BBC, Studio Lambert, or the production of Celebrity Traitors. For the artist, that appears to be the entire point. The installation arrives amid growing scrutiny surrounding political leadership and public trust in Britain.
