February 28, 2012
Treat Your Senses to Hirshhorn’s New Suprasensorial Exhibition
Immerse yourself in the works that surround and submerge you at the Hirshhorn. Carlos Cruz-Diez, "Chromosaturation," 1965, refabricated 2010. ©2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Iwan Baan
The Hirshhorn Museum‘s new exhibition, “Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color and Space,” is something meant to be experienced. Installations by five Latin American artists whose participatory works tease the senses while incorporating the viewers’ own perceptions into the final experiences breach the theatrical fourth wall. The works literally draw you in and from within, a drama unfolds.
The international group of artists operated on parallel innovative paths, and even served as precursors, in some cases, to the Southern California-based Light and Space art movement of the late 1960s. Alma Ruiz from the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, is serving as guest curator for show.
“For me, the most important aspect of the exhibition is to show how avant-garde these artists were at the time–how they conceived art in a different way.” said Ruiz. “It was a different dynamic between the audience and the artwork.”
The works are best experienced on a first-hand basis, just as the artists desired. “They wanted to actually make that space between the viewer and the object disappear,” said Ruiz. “They wanted people to really immerse themselves in the art.”
WARM…WARMER…DISCO:
Step into the ever-changing disco ball light show inside the mirrored cave of Argentinian Julio Le Parc’s 1962 Light in Movement (refabricated 2010) and it becomes easy to linger. The rotating mirrored panels send beautiful, ever-changing light across the interior of the installation. It’s like stargazing indoors and watching the universe slowly revolve around you.
SHAKE YOUR BOOTIES:
“It’s about the color saturations,” said Hirshhorn curator Valerie Fletcher, of the 1965 Chromosaturation by Venezuelan Carlos Cruz-Diez’s (refabricated 2010). A visually intense experience, the blindingly white walls, ceilings and floors inside the structure provide a sharp counterpart for the striking florescent color grids of blue, magenta or green fixed to the ceilings. Help keep things clean and throw on a pair of the protective booties provided by the museum before entering this room.
Jesús Rafael Soto, "Blue Penetrable," ©2012 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris. Photo: Iwan Baan
THE BLUE FOREST:
Venezuelan Jesús Rafael Soto creates a sense of artistic whimsy with his 1969 Blue Penetrable BBL (refabricated 1999), as the viewer steps into a sea of hanging blue rubber strands–a virtual cerulean spaghetti forest. Like the brushes in a car wash, the rubber grabs at you and engulfs you as you make your way through. The best part? Looking up while standing in the middle and seeing only blue lines.
LAY DOWN, TUNE IN:
Need a place to take a nap? The very informal atmosphere of the early 1970s is recreated in the 1973 Cosmococa: Program in Progress, CC1 Trashiscapes (refrabricated 2010), by Brazilian Hélio Oiticica and collaborator Neville D’Almeida. Bedrolls are strewn throughout the dark room, and viewers are encouraged to chill out, relax, and listen to Jimi Hendrix while slide show imagery is projected onto the walls. You might want to bring your toothbrush and stay awhile.
UP IN THE AIR:
And don’t forget to look up while riding the escalator to the third floor of the Hirshhorn. Crane your neck and follow the white neon tube abstractly winding its way through space overhead. The ever-changing perspectives of Italian Argentinian Lucio Fontana’s 1951 Neon Structure for the IX Triennale of Milan (refabricated 2010) is like a three-dimensional diagram of an atom gone haywire.
“Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color and Space” will be at the Hirshhorn Museum through May 13, 2012.
February 21, 2012
Events Feb 21-23: Youth Poetry Slam, Echoes of the Silk Road, and Suprasensorial
Artists and curators of the Hirshhorn's "Suprasensorial" exhibit will discuss their installations on Thursday.
Tuesday, February 21 Youth Poetry Slam
See the District’s top teen poets in their element as they compete in Split This Rock‘s Youth Slam Team Semi-finals. The judges will pick ten to move on to the grand slam finals, based on spoken word style and original poetry. Free. 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Kogod Auditorium, National Portrait Gallery.
Wednesday, February 22 Echoes of the Silk Road
The Music From Japan Festival brings traditional and contemporary Japanese music to the Freer Gallery. Listen to new and recreated works on ancient instruments brought to Japan from the Silk Road, featuring a long-extinct Persian harp (kugo). Come early for a pre-concert tour of the Freer’s new Korean ceramics exhibit. Free tickets are required. Exhibit tour at 6:45 p.m. Concert at 7:30 p.m. Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery.
Thursday, February 23 Suprasensorial
The Hirshhorn’s new exhibition, “Suprasensorial: Experiments in Light, Color, and Space” features large-scale installations that explore the influence of environment on the senses through light, color, space and sound. Walk through the exhibit, then join the artists and curators for a discussion of the installations and the Light and Sound movement at large. Free. Exhibit opens at 5:30 p.m. Talk starts at 7:00 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.
February 17, 2012
Weekend Events Feb 17-19: Gallery Talk, Presidential Family Fun Day, and a Tour with the Artist
Jacob Lawrence is the subject of this week's Gallery Talk. The Cabinet Makers by Jacob Lawrence, 1946, courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum.
Friday, February 17 Gallery Talk: Jacob Lawrence
Inspired by the shapes and colors of Harlem, painter Jacob Lawrence was, as the New York Times wrote, “among the most impassioned visual chroniclers of the African-American experience.” Find out why in this gallery tour led by Jacquelyn D. Serwer, curator at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Free. 12:30 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. Hirshhorn Museum.
Saturday, February 18 Presidential Family Fun Day
Get your patriotic spirit up at the Kogod Courtyard’s presidential family party. Enjoy fife and drum performances, learn about American history, and make presidential crafts to take home with you. You might even meet George Washington. Free. 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Kogod Courtyard, American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery.
Sunday, February 19 Artuaré Tour
See Artuaré through the eyes of the artist himself with a special tour by Steven M. Cummings. Cummings will discuss the inspirations and stories behind this exhibition of his artistic evolution. Free, but make a reservation at 202-633-4844. 2:00 p.m. Anacostia Community Museum.
For a complete listing of Smithsonian events and exhibitions visit the goSmithsonian Visitors Guide. Additional reporting by Michelle Strange.
February 7, 2012
How Much the Hope Diamond is Worth and Other Questions From Our Readers
How much is the Hope Diamond worth? Ask Smithsonian.
Our inquisitive readers are rising to the challenge we gave them last month. The questions are pouring in and we’re ready for more. Do you have any questions for our curators? Submit your questions here.
How much is the Hope Diamond worth? — Marjorie Mathews, Silver Spring, Maryland
That’s the most popular question we get, but we don’t really satisfy people by giving them a number. There are a number of answers, but the best one is that we honestly don’t know. It’s a little bit like Liz Taylor’s jewels being sold in December—all kinds of people guessed at what they would sell for, but everybody I know was way off. Only when those pieces were opened up to bidding at a public auction could you find out what their values were. When they were sold, then at least for that day and that night you could say, well, they were worth that much. The Hope Diamond is kind of the same way, but more so. There’s simply nothing else like it. So how do you put a value on the history, on the fact it’s been here on display for over 50 years and a few hundred million people have seen it, and on that fact it’s a rare blue diamond on top of everything else? You don’t. – Jeffrey E. Post, mineralogist, National Museum of Natural History
What’s the worst impact of ocean acidification so far?- Nancy Schaefer, Virginia Beach, Virginia
The impacts of ocean acidification are really just starting to be felt, but two big reports that came out in 2011 show that it could have very serious effects on coral reefs. These studies did not measure the warming effect of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but rather its effect of making the ocean more acidic when it dissolves in the ocean. Places where large amounts of carbon dioxide seep into the water from the sea floor provide a natural experiment and show us how ocean waters might look, say, 50 or 100 years from now. Both studies showed branching, lacy, delicate coral forms are likely to disappear, and with them that kind of three-dimensional complexity so many species depend on. Also, other species that build a stony skeleton or shell, such as oysters or mussels, are likely to be affected. This happens because acidification makes carbonate ions, which these species need for their skeletons, less abundant.
Nancy Knowlton, marine biologist
National Museum of Natural History
Art and artifacts from ancient South Pacific and Pacific Northwest tribes have similarities in form and function. Is it possible that early Hawaiians caught part of the Kuroshio Current of the North Pacific Gyre to end up along the northwest coast of America from northern California to Alaska? — April Amy Croan, Maple Valley, Washington
Those similarities have given rise to various theories, including trans-Pacific navigation, independent drifts of floating artifacts, inadvertent crossings by ships that have lost their rudders or rigging, or whales harpooned in one area that died or were captured in a distant place. Some connections are well-known, like feather garment fragments found in an archaeological site in Southeast Alaska that appear to have been brought there by whaling ships that had stopped in the Hawaiian Islands, a regular route for 19th-century whalers. Before the period of European contact, the greatest similarities are with the southwest Pacific, not Hawaii. The Kushiro current would have facilitated Asian coastal contacts with northwestern North America, but would not have helped Hawaiians. The problem of identification is one of context, form and dating. Most of the reported similarities are either out of their original context (which can’t be reconstructed), or their form is not specific enough to relate to another area’s style, or the date of creation cannot be established. To date there is no acceptable proof for South Pacific-Northwest Coast historical connections that predates the European whaling era, except for links that follow the coastal region of the North Pacific into Alaska.
William Fitzhugh, archeologist
Natural History Museum
February 1, 2012
The Top Five Most Anticipated Exhibits of 2012
The Art of Video Games exhibit opens at the American Art Museum on March 16.
We know you’ve got enough “looking forward to 2012″ lists under your belt by now; our Who to Follow post alone will keep you pretty busy. But we can’t resist sneaking in just one more. Here’s our guide to the exhibitions we’re most excited for this year. Mark your calendars now so you’ll have no excuse to say you’re bored later.
A new look at Monticello: Founding father Thomas Jefferson called slavery an “abominable crime”. . . but owned more than 600 slaves who sustained his plantation, Monticello. “Slavery at Jefferson’s Monticello: Paradox of Liberty,” opened on January 27 in the American History Museum‘s National Museum of African American History and Culture Gallery, and focuses on the long-overlooked history of slave life at the third president’s Virginia home. Be sure to keep up with the latest news from Monticello on Twitter at @TJMonticello.
Happy birthday, Jackson Pollock: If he were alive today, Jackson Pollock would have turned 100 on January 28. To honor the stormy life and revolutionary work of the modern art icon, the Archives of American Art presents Pollock’s personal family photos, letters, and writings in “Art Memories Arrested in Space, a centennial tribute to Jackson Pollock” at the Reynolds Center through May 15.
Game on: Can video games be art? To answer that question, the American Art Museum‘s upcoming exhibit, “The Art of Video Games,” pulls together the most arresting graphics and innovative designs in the gaming world, on view March 16 through September 30. Even if you forgot to vote for your favorite game, don’t miss out on GameFest, which kicks off the exhibit with three days packed with open play, panel talks with artists and designers, and live-action gaming. To tide you over til March, follow curator Chris Melissinos at @CMelissinos for updates and teasers.
Hokusai: In anticipation of the Cherry Blossom Centennial, the Sackler Gallery presents a study of Katsushika Hosukai, Japan’s most famous artist (yes, that’s his Great Wave that has probably graced every college dorm wall in America). “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji,” his most acclaimed woodblock print series, was first published in 1830 when Hokusai was in his 70s and goes on view on March 24 through June 17. The gallery has set up an interactive website with more information on Hokusai’s life and artistic technique.
Ai Weiwei: The controversial Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, arrested last year, brings a new installation, “Fragments,” to the Sackler Gallery beginning May 12. Using antique wood salvaged from Qing Dynasty temples, Ai worked with skilled traditional carpenters to create what he calls an “irrational structure” that both affirms and defies centuries of architectural traditions. In October, the Hirshhorn gets in on the action with an exhibit of 25 of Ai’s recent works entitled “Ai Weiwei: According to What?” For an English translation of Ai’s Twitter, follow @aiwwenglish.
