The Getting Clever Project

I hate that people take their Christmas decoration down so early. What happened to keeping them up until Twelfth Night?

I hope everyone had a nice New Year. Sister 9 and I made a day of it. We went to the U.S. Botanic Gardens to see the model train sets. The theme this year was World Fairs. They had all these models from old World Fairs made out of plant materials. We also took a walk around looking at the orchids and palm trees.

Then we went over to the American Indian Museum for lunch at the Mitsitam Cafe. A few of you have been there. The food is scrumptious. She had maple-cured turkey, I had Brunswick stew, and we split the Indian corn pudding. That pudding was outstanding! I want to try making it. Oh, so good.

We went to a couple of floors of the museum, including a short film about Indian tribes. (Jenn and I saw it a couple of years ago). We also went through some sections of what tribal life used to be like and what it's like now. Very interesting.

Then we went over to the Air and Space Museum. When she saw they had a movie about the Hubble Telescope in 3D in IMAX, we had to see it. It was fantastic. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to being in space, but it felt so real. It was so crisp and sharp. Afterwards we had a nice conversation about how "Gravity" contrasted with the real thing and how the photos are enhanced.

There will be photos soon I hope.

They keep the shutters closed most of the time because there are beautiful peacocks on them. And also to protect the room against destructive sunlight. But one afternoon a month, the shutters are drawn back and the light shines in.



( Come right this way )

I had a really nice art-oriented weekend.

The Corcoran Museum has an eclectic collection. It is one of the few DC museums that charge admission but it's free on Saturdays this month. I started out looked at a special exhibition from Richard Diebenkorn called the Ocean Park Series. They are abstracts but with very beachy colors. More info about the exhibit and the artist from the museum. I also wandered into a performance presentation. Kathryn Cornelius, Save The Date. As described by the Corcoran "This performance explores the life cycle of marriage and divorce, and the wedding ceremony’s complex mix of private emotion, public spectacle, social expectation, and state power." Museumgoers acted as the congregation and wedding guests. It was kind of wacky but fun. People were dancing!

I walked past the National Women's Art Museum. They replaced the exuberant dancers with these rather gloomy, spiky abstracts. Not such an enjoyable change to the cityscape.





The best was the last: an exhibit by a photojournalist who takes photos of abandoned military bases around the US. There's an awful lot of abandoned military material and land around the country. The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop had a fascinating display of his photos. Some of them can be seen here/ I had a nice conversation with the photographer and some other attendees about equipment and inspiration. Making the film is becoming a niche market.

Yesterday was a Hirshhorn Museum day for me. I went back to see a few things I'd already seen and enjoy some new ones. Sadly, two of my favorite exhibits will close in a week, so if you are anywhere nearby, run right over there. :)

Suprasensorial is The Sentinel exhibition. I can so see Blair dragging Jim to it and putting him through some thinly disguised tests. Here's a downloadable PDF about the exhibit.

They call it "large scale multimedia constructions of light, color, and space." There's one where you walk though dangling strings which I think Jim would enjoy and another that feels like you're inside a kaleidoscope. You can sit on mattresses and watch projections. Jim would hate the mattresses. There's a light sculpture that looks like a flashlight shining around.

( Suprasensorial )

Al Weiwei's Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads shows large versions of the chinese zodiac symbols. It'll be there all summer long. Here's a link to a video about it ( Chinese Zodiac )

I've written before about Song 1 by Doug Aitken. Song 1 by Doug Aitken. This is the exhibit where he filmed the artists singing "I Only Have Eyes for You." It's projected on the outside of the Hirshhorn from sunset to midnight. It's closing on the thirteenth.

Here's a couple of photos. I really like the second one because it looks like the singer is the shadow of the Lichtenstein sculpture.
( Song 1 )
And here's a link to a PDF about the display http://www.hirshhorn.si.edu/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Aitken-combined.pdf