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February 23, 2006
diorama number nineteen-forty-eight...
This weekend in Washington, there's a great thing going on over at the Hirshhorn Museum. A collection of Hiroshi Sugimoto photographs has descended on the museum, gracing it with a mystical and elusive presence.
Sugimoto, born in 1948 Tokyo, has made a living out of making inanimate, 'dead' objects real. He brings to mind the visual innovators of bygone eras, with his evocative experimental photographs. In typical fashion, he fiddles with whatever variable he can get his hands on. Here, Sugimoto kept the camera aperture open for the entire length of a film, just to see what the results would bring.
Cabot Street Cinema, Massachusetts, 1978 (photograph from a private collection)
Sugimoto once said, "Superlative architecture survives the onslaught of blurred photography". Indeed, this quote only becomes relevant when one observes his series of "blurred buildings".
The Chrysler Building, 1997 (architect: William van Alen, photograph from the private collection of the artist)
The famous photographer "began erosion-testing architecture for durability, melting away many of the buildings in the process", after he realized that the definition of good architecture lies in whether or not it can stand the test of time.
The World Trade Center, 1997 (architect: Minoru Yamazaki, photograph from the Hirshhorn Collection)
Barragán House, 2002 (architect: Luis Barragán, photograph from a private collection)
His photographs of various museum displays and dioramas bring a glint to every taxidermist's eye. Taxidermy is often a difficult profession, as is any profession that requires bringing life back to the dead (artists, doctors, painters, filmmakers, and EMTs, for example). Polar bears, condors and manatees live through his photographs, when quite often in museum dioramas they are washed-out, static and unfeeling relics of a bygone era.
Manatee, 1994 (photograph from the private collection of the artist)
White Mantled Colobus, 1980 (photograph from a private collection)
Polar Bear, 1976 (photograph from a private collection)
If you're itchin' and scratchin' to get out this weekend, mosey on over to the National Mall and head for the only circular museum there- the Hirshhorn. If you aren't up for the walk from Union Station to the National Mall (only a couple of blocks towards the Capitol, then a couple right, and you'll find yourself at the National Gallery of Art's East Building). From the East Building, it's only a hop, jump and skip over to the Hirshhorn. Enjoy the exhibition- it ends on May 14th.
Posted by robyn at February 23, 2006 9:35 PM
