Keep It Local: Hirshhorn: "Over, Under, Next," and "Here & There"

oh, the humanity.

From the files of "this was so cool, too bad it just closed," we bring you our visit to two of the Hirshhorn's fab summer exhibits. Actually, I'll qualify that. One of them is still technically open, BUT the museum is closed during this fabulous display of government cooperation (aka the "government shutdown"). In the event that Congress gets their S together before October 6th or the Hirshhorn does you a solid and extends Peter Coffin's exhibition, you still may have a chance to see "Here & There." See? We're not totally useless (unlike others mentioned hererin, uhemm. uhemm).

Actually, we were both pretty useless the day mom took us to see "Over, Under, Next" and "Here & There." Mom thought I was faking a bad ankle sprain, so she insisted we still get out of the house. I insisted I couldn't walk, so she rolled out the old stroller and put me in it. Cam developed a sudden nostalgia for the creaking hulk (I am mos def over the weight limit) and cried, sulked, and pouted the entire time we were at the museum because she wanted to ride. Mom smirked as she remembered shopping for the stroller with daddy and asking the sales clerk what they were supposed to use when their wee babe reached the 40 lb. weight limit. His response? "Then the baby will be 4 and it shouldn't be in a stroller." It all made sense now.

Despite our best efforts to exude serious tudes, we still enjoyed the exhibit of multimedia art from the Hirshhorn's collection in "Over, Under, Next." I even developed a sudden ability to walk in Ann Hamilton's installation of fluttering notes and beeswax (Cami seized that opportunity to jump in the empty stroller). I liked some of Peter Coffin's work in "Here & There," but we both freaked out at his lighting projections on other works from the museum's collection, which of course is where mom really wanted to spend more time. His ginormous and incredibly velvety looking doggie sculpture, however, finally put smiles on our faces. We really, really want one. Like to sleep on.

So maybe use this post as a reminder to check out what the museum has cooking -- we're definitely excited about the upcoming exhibition "Damage Control: Art and Destruction since 1950." Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art had a similar exhibit when we visited last spring and it was one of my all-time favorite art trips.

p.s. after mulling over the fact that I'd been pulling myself along the floor for two days and considering the notion that perhaps I was actually hurt, mom took me to an emergency care clinic that very afternoon. turns out I actually really sprained it. badly. nice, mom. nice.