Hirshhorn Museum

Yesterday, I took a mental health day and visited Washington D.C. After weeks holed up in my apartment doing work, I felt the need to experience a new culture for a day. As I normally do when I visit D.C., I took the Metro straight to the Smithsonian stop. I love the National Mall for two reasons in particular:

1. It's a national park that actually looks lived in; people run and play football but somehow it still feels like sacred ground.
2. Standing on the Mall, you have the opportunity to visit museums of all types, for free. It's like a museum buffet!

For this visit, I chose to stop at the Hirshhorn museum, one of my favorites. The Hirshhorn focuses on contemporary art and sculpture. They put together fabulous exhibits and the current exhibit is no exception. I spent two hours watching and listening to "The Cinema Effect: Illusion, Reality, and the Moving Image. Part 1: Dreams." According to the Hirshhorn's website, the exhibit "addresses film's ability to transport us out of our everyday lives and into a dream world." That description, while a bit bland, is scarily accurate.

The exhibit is so dark at points that wandering through its twisting hallways is both frightening and disorienting. Combine that with video installations splashing brightly onto walls and the exhibit is both shocking and memorable.

I don't know how to describe it other than to say that it is a must-see. Odd but incredibly interesting.