Each of us looks at the world through our own filter, constructed by our own thoughts and emotions. It matters that you are the one in front of the art—that there is an equal relationship between subject, object, and space—meaning that your interaction with and interpretation of what you see matters to your experience, or so the philosophy of the “Speculative Realism” exhibit at the Hirshhorn would have us believe.
This phenomenon is explored in the exhibition “Speculative Forms,” a collection of sculpture spanning the past century that challenges the notion of art separate from the viewer. The artwork is displayed along the second-floor hallway of the cylindrical Hirshhorn building, forcing you to consider each piece one by one.
The exhibition demands participation. Henry Moore’s Helmet Head, for example, makes you peer into the cave-like opening to see the details created in the hollow bronze shell sculpture. Another piece, Zygote, requires even more imagination. The sculpture is a large, flattened white marble egg, polished and featureless, save for a few detailed scratches. With a bit of imagination, these scratches look like glimpses inside the shell of an egg, hinting at hidden depths within the piece.
Tomonori Toyofuku’s Caelum II, a large, flat wooden carving riddled with holes like a honeycomb, even further draws the viewer’s attention. The Hirshhorn has this artwork exhibited with overhead lighting, so that the holes create a splatter of light in the shadows. As you walk from left to right, the shadows change, making you an active participant in the artistic experience.
Among the most impressive pieces is David Lee Brown’s 6-68, a reflective sculpture composed of silver, mirror-like metal arranged like two perpendicular handheld fans. Each time you move, the reflections change and move, showing different slivers of your face.
What this exhibit brings to light is, “the importance of installation and the viewer’s eye and body in relation to the object.” This is art where the individual truly matters and where you are encouraged to play around with how you see it. For “Speculative Forms,” your experience is in your own hands.
Hirshhorn Museum
7th St. & Independence SW
Monday – Sunday, 10 – 5:30
hirshhorn.si.edu
