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Artist turns Hirshhorn’s exterior into ‘world’s greatest screen’

After two years of discussion and planning, Doug Aitken’s “SONG 1” multimedia spectacle is being projected onto all sides of Washington’s modernist museum.

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Justin Nabors sits on the hood of a car to view Doug Aitken's "SONG 1", a 360-degree projection as it is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. The display can be seen from sunset to midnight March 22 to May 13.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Doug Aitken's “SONG 1,” a 360-degree projection, is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Doug Aitken's “SONG 1,” a 360-degree projection, is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Doug Aitken's 'SONG 1' is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Doug Aitken's "SONG 1" is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Doug Aitken's 'SONG 1', a 360-degree projection is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Doug Aitken's "SONG 1", a 360-degree projection is seen at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

Doug Aitken's 'SONG 1' is seen at the Hirshhorn.

Doug Aitken's "SONG 1" is seen at the Hirshhorn.

Matt McClain / For The Washington Post

California artist Doug Aitken's 'SONG 1' will be projected onto all sides of Washington's Hirshhorn Museum from dusk to midnight through May 13. Beck is one of the artists whose cover of 'I Only Have Eyes For You' will play during the project.

California artist Doug Aitken's "SONG 1" will be projected onto all sides of Washington's Hirshhorn Museum from dusk to midnight through May 13. Beck is one of the artists whose cover of "I Only Have Eyes For You" will play during the project.

Hirshhorn Museum

$The continuous visual loop will fracture images, swirl, swoop and transform the modernist cylinder into a 360-degree panorama.$

The continuous visual loop will fracture images, swirl, swoop and transform the modernist cylinder into a 360-degree panorama.

Hirshhorn Museum

Viewers can experience the multimedia spectacle in a number of ways: at a fixed point watching it all unfold, walking around the building or driving by what may seem like a moving two-story billboard on the Mall.

Viewers can experience the multimedia spectacle in a number of ways: at a fixed point watching it all unfold, walking around the building or driving by what may seem like a moving two-story billboard on the Mall.

/ Hirshhorn Museum

The work, as the title indicates, will be accompanied by musicians performing the pop standard “I Only Have Eyes for You,” written by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin in 1934.

The work, as the title indicates, will be accompanied by musicians performing the pop standard “I Only Have Eyes for You,” written by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin in 1934.

Hirshhorn Museum

Kerry Brougher, the Hirshhorn’s deputy director, says that with no fixed central vantage point to the piece, it is the song that anchors it. “The tempo for it is set at 60 beats per minute, and it’s continued all the way through the film at 60 beats for minute,” he says.

Kerry Brougher, the Hirshhorn’s deputy director, says that with no fixed central vantage point to the piece, it is the song that anchors it. “The tempo for it is set at 60 beats per minute, and it’s continued all the way through the film at 60 beats for minute,” he says.

Hirshhorn Museum

For Doug Aitken, whose outdoor video projections, installations and musical happenings have earned him awards for more than a decade, the building’s stout cylinder was a particular challenge. Usually such ambitious 360-degree presentations have been indoors and on concave screens.

For Doug Aitken, whose outdoor video projections, installations and musical happenings have earned him awards for more than a decade, the building’s stout cylinder was a particular challenge. Usually such ambitious 360-degree presentations have been indoors and on concave screens.

Hirshhorn Museum

The aim of 'Song 1' is to upend the very concept of a museum, demonstrating “how a museum can be pulled inside out,” Brougher said.

The aim of "Song 1" is to upend the very concept of a museum, demonstrating “how a museum can be pulled inside out,” Brougher said.

Hirshhorn Museum

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