In few time, the people strolling at night near the National Mall in Washington, D.C. will be able to see a museum turned inside-out. The Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is giving its trademark circular cement exterior a glowing, 360-degree makeover.
A rendering of Song 1. Courtesy Doug Aitken Workshop.
For nearly eight weeks this spring, the artist Doug Aitken (American, b. Redondo Beach, Calif., 1968; lives and works in Los Angeles and New York) will illuminate the façade of the Hirshhorn’s iconic cylindrical building by completely covering it with moving images, accompanying them with an original soundscape. Between March 22 and May 13, from sundown to midnight, artist Doug Aitken’s "SONG 1" installation will use 11 high-definition video projectors to seamlessly blend moving images around the entire building.
Photo: Doug Aitken Workshop.
According to Hirshhorn deputy director and chief curator Kerry Brougher, it is a public, interactive piece, "SONG 1" toys with the concept of "liquid architecture" —a constant shifting that transforms museum architect Gordon Bunshaft's heavy, cement mass into a light, ethereal work of art. Rather than the screen creating a stagnant space for viewers to sit still and enter the fictional world presented, the outdoor exhibition becomes a part of the urban environment and demands audience participation, requiring the viewer to move around the building to fully experience the installation.
Smithsonian Institution - Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC .
