Through the use of eleven high definition projectors, every evening from sunset to midnight the vast circular façade of the Hirshhorn lights up the National Mall with a looped thirty-five minute video piece that at times emphasises the entire of the building's form. At other points, parts of the building disappear, the video engulfing them as Aitken's "reflection of contemporary reality" flows around the circular volume, creating a the illusion of a liquid architecture of sorts. Visible from countless vantage points around the National Mall and park, the piece is not simply reflected in two or four sections, but is a singular multimedia entity which differs depending on the position from which you take it in.
The work is based around the classic song I Only Have Eyes For You, written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin for the 1934 Warner Brothers picture Dames, in which Dick Powell uses it to profess his love to Ruby Keeler. In the film's finale, a re-prise of the song cues a fantasy sequence where Keeler is gradually duplicated and reiterated, until hundreds of Keelers together deliver an elaborate Busby Berkley choreographed musical crescendo. This is perhaps from where some of the visual inspiration for Aitken's project also stems. Made popular in the doo-wop era by The Flamingos and since by scores of others including Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and Art Garfunkel, the classic song has been re-interpreted for this project by the likes of Beck, James Murphy, Devendra Banhart, CFCF, No Age and Lucky Dragons.
Doug Aitken: Song 1
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Washington DC
