Hirshhorn Museum

I know this is a bit overdue, but I finally made it to the Hirshhorn museum this past week. To be honest, I did not respond to many of the works there, as I rarely do at modern art museums. The only work that really made an impact on me was an installment on fear at the Chicago Museum of Modern Art. A person goes into a pitch black room, and all that is seen is some green cat-like eyes in the distance and slowly a growling is heard all around. The growling slowly builds in intensity and volume and it is so realistic that many people (my friend and me included) ran out screaming. Since it was so dark, the eyes cannot adjust to any detail and you are forced to image the body that goes along with the pair of green eyes. It was an awesome experience.

At the Hirshhorn, one video installation that had an impact on me was “Play Dead; Real Time” by Douglas Gordon. In a big, darkened hall were two large screens with a movie playing on a loop of an elephant walking around a room and in a corner was a small TV with a close up of her eye which slowly zooms out. The elephant was walking in a circle and looking at both screens was nauseating because the rooms were spinning in different directions. Overall, the effect was overwhelming and mesmerizing.