The bedroom — which helped the truant rebel accomplish his off-campus shenanigans — has been recreated to a tee in a Toronto hotel room by a pair of local artists. And the setup will be brought to Chicago just in time for Ferris Fest, which celebrates the 30th anniversary of the iconic Chicago-based film, reports Chicago Magazine.
Sarah Keenlyside and Joe Clement, both from Toronto, spared no expense to bring back some of the nostalgia and re-create Ferris’ bedroom for an exhibition called Come Up to My Room at the boutique Gladstone Hotel in the city. And thanks to typical teenage clutter, the small room has a lot of items in it — not to mention some fairly expensive ’80s electronics, which were reportedly the hardest items to acquire.
Apparently, Ferris was not only admired by his peers, but his parents spoiled him rotten, too. The gear in his room would have cost a mint back in the day; the E-mu Emulator II keyboard alone — which helped Ferris fool fellow students into thinking he was sick (and compose a sneeze waltz) — would have cost upwards of $10,000.
Other gear included a Sony Trinitron TV, Carver DTL-100 CD player, Carver 2000 receiver, Fender Bassman amp, and AudioSource EQ-One, helped the room run up a bill that would total tens of thousands of dollars all together. Keenlyside and Clement sourced the vintage gear through thrift shops, as well as eBay. The exact computer was located at a computer museum in Canda’s own Brantford, ON.
Given his prized collection of electronics and uncanny computer skills, it seems that Ferris may have actually been that rare breed of “cool nerd.” Then again, he really wanted a car (as we all know) but he got a computer — maybe he should have just sold his Carver hi-fi.
Bueller was played flawlessly by Matthew Broderick in the John Hughes film. The quirky bedroom is featured often in the film, though Ferris is rarely actually in it.
“Considering that nobody’s in the room a lot of time,” Keenlyside tells Chicago Magazine’s Whet Moser, “…that room is a character of its own. It adds a humongous dimension to the Ferris character. Without that room, we’d lose a lot of layers of that guy.”
It’s fitting that the city of Chicago, the site of the film, will take possession of the room in time for Ferris Fest, which takes place from May 20-22.
You can see photos of the re-created room here, in an article from the local Toronto Life Magazine. And yes, it even comes complete with the life-sized mannequin; no word on whether the loud snoring noises will accompany it.
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