It's a surreal experience driving along Sunset Boulevard like you always do - until you see a white palm tree, stark white against blue sky. Then the hotel appears, as if completely covered in snow.

French artist Vincent Lamouroux has transformed the abandoned Sunset Pacific Motel (fondly known to locals as The Bates Motel) into a temporary art installation called "Projection." The building has been boarded up since 2002 and has been an eyesore for the community, but also an example of new development winning over conservation efforts. The building will be demolished eventually as plans are in its final stages.

The artist used a water-soluble whitewash - a eco-safe, biodegradable solution of limewash also used for public art in France. The whitewash is meant to "free the landscape in time and space… to make something appear in the middle of the urban landscape." And it sure does interrupt perception and public space in an intriguing manner.

Check it out for yourself while it's still there - head down Sunset to the corner of Bates in Silver Lake. You can't miss it!