Everyone should head on over to the Hirschhorn after it gets dark. “But doesn’t the museum close at 5?”, you might ask. No worries, my dear friends – Doug Aitken‘s got you covered with his latest work, a staggering 82 foot tall, 725 foot wide giant art exhibit on the outside of our favorite donut-shaped modern art repository.
You heard me right — an artwork projected on the outside of the entire building. Pretty surprising for a city not exactly known for engaging in artistic risks. Using high powered projectors circling the whole building, Aitken managed this incredible feat of displaying a film in 360 degrees. A visual treat consisting of a 24-minute looped melange of delightful doo-woppery, close-ups of spinning analog tape reels, cityscapes, and other urban flora and fauna, it’s pretty spectacular. It’s also site-specific, meaning it won’t be shown anywhere else in the world. In case y’all didn’t already know, DC’s special.
The best view is from the rear of the building by the sculpture garden. There’s a musical accompaniment that struck me as kinda lame, but the visuals make up for it. Imagine seeing something of this ilk while on a plane descending into National Airport. Whoa, Nelly. The future is here, my friends. Recommended.
Check out WaPo for an in-depth explanation of the exhibition.
Written by Joel Church. Buy his book Fingerprints here at Amazon.
DC Style Is Real 
I’ll try to make it down there based on this review. Thumbs up