Merry-go-round on the National Mall, in front of the Smithsonian "Castle." It looks festive even at night, though a bit lonely.
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The Hirshhorn Museum is a large concrete donut of a building off the National Mall in Washington, DC. "Song 1," a multimedia presentation by Doug Aitken, was projected as a continuous video, with sound, around the outside of the building. The odd form in the foreground is a sculpture outside the building.
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"Song 1" was built around the 1934 pop song "I only have eyes for you," reimagined by dozens of singers in different genres. Here you see giant rolls of reel-to-reel tape on the 725-foot round outer wall.
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Each section of "Song 1" takes roughly ten minutes, and the images are very much in keeping with the singers performing that section. Some of the images focus on the singer, others on images associated with the lyrics to "I only have eyes for you."
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The Hirshhorn Museum is screened somewhat by tall trees on the Mall in front, and by large government buildings in the rear. Yet the giant images were arresting, to pedestrians and vehicle traffic.
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After listening to "I only have eyes for you" half a dozen times by half a dozen artists in half a dozen styles, you can't be help but impressed with the flexibility of the music and lyrics. Hard to believe the song is almost 80 years old.
