2024-04-25
Krzysztof Wodiczko’s "Washington, DC" (1988) will cover the facade of the Hirshhorn Museum on February 13. The work was presented by the museum for the first time thirty years ago – since then the video installation hasn’t been shown. It will be a symbolic inauguration of the exhibition called "Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s", curated by Gianni Jetzer.
As Stéphane Aquin, chief curator at the Hirshhorn, says: "Krzysztof Wodiczko’s work is a seminal example of key points within the exhibition "Brand New"—one being the DIY approach to making and showing art that characterizes the period, and the borrowing of advertising and film techniques in making art on social issues".
A clear, political message included in the work – two hands, one holding a revolver, the second one holding a candle and four microphones located, in the centre of the projection, reminding a press conference – was a response to Ronald Reagan’s policy as well as presidential campaigns of George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis.
Even though "Washington, DC" clearly refers to events from the past, it still remains important and compatible with current issues like women’s rights, the death penalty and the power of mass media. According to Wodiczko: "Today, there are new ways of looking at the work that differ from the original context, with many possible reading. I’m not sure what will cross the minds of people now. The restaging is more of an archival project, and we shouldn’t force it to be relevant. But maybe people will help this projection by generously trying to make use of it in today’s context. I would be grateful."