Camera Dashboard: 30 in 30: #27

Friday, January 26, 2007

30 in 30: #27

Sleepwalkers is a video installation by Doug Aiken that is currently on display (until Feb. 16) on the facades of the Museum of Modern Art in Midtown Manhattan. The images project "the nocturnal journeys of five city inhabitants," played by Tilda Swinton, Donald Sutherland, Chan Marshall (Cat Power), Seu Jorge, and Ryan Donowho.

The piece is described as a broken narrative, without beginning or end, where the characters "entwine across the building's surfaces in combinations that change cyclically throughout the course of the evening." On my visit this entwining was apparent as movement was consistent across the different images or stories. Unfortunately it was way too cold to stick around and take in the full cycle.

This is not only the first large-scale public artwork in the United States for the artist but also the first artwork to engage MoMA's latest expansion by Yoshio Taniguchi. To fully experience the piece one must walk from the 53rd side, along the western end of the museum, and end in the courtyard where the most images are displayed.

In the courtyard five of the eight images are displayed. These images are projected onto the museum's glass curtain walls. I'm guessing that by darkening the interior spaces that the effect of a readable image is created, rather than adding a film to the glass to achieve the same. Regardless of technical details, the impact on the courtyard space is undeniable.