Places to Go - Running Through Neon and Learning About Iran at the Hirshhorn (Washington DC) & Cherish This Day

Usually, I view the beginning of summer like a race, as in "let's DO STUFF!!" bucket lists. tours. museums. parks. bring it on. And that can be fun. But this year, we're summering at a slower pace. Lazy afternoons at the pool. Sleeping in until 9. Dog walks around the neighborhood. Lots of time reading books on the couch and fighting over the ipad.

Chillaxing.

Anyways, after twelve days of lazy, I decided late last week that we needed some culture. We tried to find the Folklife festival but apparently this year they changed the location.

So we ended up at my favorite DC museum, the Hirshhorn, where Shirn Neshat's "Facing History" Exhibition currently occupies the entire second floor. Neshat's photographs and movies, which focus on Iran's treatment of women, weren't exactly "fun" for children. But now the kids all realize that women's rights should never be taken for granted (they also were oddly fascinated by Neshat's movies, we stayed to watch each one in its entirety). And T saw photos of guns, so he was happy.

After the Neshat exhibit, everyone had a blast exploring, Dan Flavin in the basement (neon is fun!!) and Ernesto Neto's The Dangerous Logic of Wooing in the At the Hub of Things exhibit.

HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!! Where have you adventured this summer? Don't forget to check out this week's awesome over at Cherish This Day.





I love that they're not too old for the carousel. Is anyone ever too old for the carousel?

Places to Go - Out and About Summer 2013, Part I - The National Mall

We've spent some time this summer on the National Mall (free museums are a huge perk of living in the DC area) sometimes with the camera, sometimes without the camera. All three kids are FINALLY old enough to understand the no touch rules of museums (even though they still forget from time to time). Here is a list of some of the new exhibits and places we've explored:

What are your favorite places on the mall?



1. The Smithsonian's Freer Gallery of Art - This was our first time at the Freer, which had several crazy old breakable objects on pedestals (so be careful). Lots of the art looked a little scary, but detailed and beautiful as well, especially the gigantic statues carved from wood that line the museum's corridors. T liked finding all the old swords and knives with intricately carved handles. And we all were a little enchanted with the peacock room, as we debated what it would be like to eat dinner in such fine surroundings. A beautiful courtyard sits in the middle of the museum, but, unfortunately most of it is blocked off.



2. The Hirshhorn's Over, Under Next - Exhibits in Mixed Media - This temporary exhibit runs through September 8 and has a few quirky pieces kids will love. All the kids and their friends couldn't stop giggling as they put on white booties over their shoes to walk on a floor made of beeswax in a room full of fluttering post it notes, cabbage, and snails. We also enjoyed Nick Cave's bunny tree with legs and a greek goddess-type statue surrounded by laundry. It's especially fun to to try and guess the materials that compose each artwork (lots of unconventional stuff).



3. The Hirshhorn's Peter Coffin Here & There - The Hirshhorn has some wonderful kid-friendly stuff on view this summer (of course, this is my favorite museum on the mall, so I tend to oversell it). This exhibit in particular is worth the trek downtown. The huge, lifelike black dog amused all the children, as did the courtyard's circular staircase leading nowhere. But my favorite exhibit (perhaps ever) was where Coffin used a variety of paintings from the museum's permanent collection and created a projected video animation/light show around them in the museum's basement. Suddenly flowers grew out of nowhere and spinning lights began to encircle an austere lady's profile. Haunted house meets art museum. Wonderful. Though T and P found the whole thing scary (sound effects accompany the dark lighting) and booked it to the gift shop. The exhibit runs through October 6.



4. The Smithsonian Natural History Museum's Human Origin Exhibit - By the time we reached the Natural History museum all the kids were fading, so we made a quick circuit through the human origins exhibit. Everyone had a blast learning what they'd look like as an early human.

5. The Smithsonian American History Museum - I didn't bring my camera for our visit, but we had a great time. Immediately upon walking into the museum (through the Constitution avenue entrance) the kids spotted Harry Potter's cape from the movie. Magic. Although HALF OF THE MUSEUM is closed for renovations until 2015 (including all of the kids' discovery rooms), we still enjoyed: learning about the history of American food (a huge table with spinning platters kept the youngest children entertained), "riding" the Chicago L train, guessing all movie clips in the transportation exhibit, learning about Golden Books, seeing the first Apple computer and Abraham Lincoln's top hat, gasping at the star spangled banner's hugeness, and dreaming of fancy events while viewing the first ladies' ball gown collection.

Upon our arrival at the museum, a costumed actor took us back to the late 1860s to teach us about the museum's origins and electromagnetism. Further, another costumed actor brought back the civil rights movement as she staged a lunch counter protest. Hopefully the museum continues to have several character actors wondering its hallways, as it really does bring the whole experience alive for children (and adults).

I asked the kids about their favorite exhibits, here's the list:

F (age 7.5)
* "The walls of notes" (Over, Under, Next's beeswax room in the Hirshhorn)
* Dorthy's ruby red slippers (Smithsonian American History museum)
* The first ladies' dresses (Smithsonian American History museum)
* Harry Potter's cape (Smithsonian American History museum)

P (age 6.5)
* The first ladies' dresses (Smithsonian American History museum)
* Gabby Douglas's leotard (Smithsonian American History museum)
* Becoming a caveman (Smithsonian Natural History museum)

T (age 4)
* The giant dog (the Hirshhorn's Peter Coffin exhibit)
* The Yellow ladders and stuff hanging from the ceiling (Hirshhorn's Over, Under, Next exhibit)

Me (age 37)
* The light installation in the Hirshhorn's basement (Peter Coffin exhibit)
* Huge statues carved from wood (the Freer Gallery of Art)
* The peacock room (the Freer Gallery of Art)
* The first Apple computer (Smithsonian American History museum)
* The history of Golden Books (Smithsonian American History museum)

Places to Go - An Afternoon at the Hirshhorn and Air & Space Museum (Washington DC)

In the past few weeks T's had a crazy busy playdate schedule. A good thing, all in all. But on the downside, we don't spend as much time together, just the two of us, as in previous years. To fix this, we decided to take Friday afternoon "off" and visit the National Mall. I always forget how easy such adventures are. On weekdays, you can usually find ample metered parking in front of the Hirshhorn (right next door to Air and Space). Plus, free admission means you can pop in and out of different places. So see some art, run through the sculpture garden, "fly" an airplane (in the Air & Space Museum's How Things Move exhibit), watch a show on the "ceiling" (i.e. planetarium). Then hop in the car and drive home. All before rush hour.



T's favorite part of the art museum? Watching three video screens in an unseen person SLOWLY covered tvs with different colors of masking tape (one tv in red, one in yellow, and one in blue). "Who's going to win, mom? Isn't this exciting, who's going to win?" I can't say I shared his enthusiasm, I found the exhibit as boring, as well, as boring as watching someone cover a tv screen in masking tape (sometimes an analogy isn't really necessary).



We ended the day with a freeze-dried ice-cream sandwich, just like real astronauts.

Places to Go - Doug Aitken's Song Number 1 at the Hirshhorn (Washington DC)

On Wednesday night after dinner, we packed up the swagger wagon and headed into the city with Grandma to check out Doug Aitken's Song Number 1 at the Hirshhorn (in which Aitken converted the outside of the museum into a 360 degree video installation). We arrived around 7:45, in time to check out the sculpture garden (I love that place) and walk around for a few minutes before the exhibit began at "dusk."

Around 8:15 we settled down, with first row viewing across the street from the museum (in front of the sculpture garden). The music began (several different - somewhat eerie -versions of "I Only Have Eyes for You"), but where was the "movie?" Apparently I hadn't thought this through. Even though the exhibit technically begins at dusk, you can't actually see it until dark. So we waited. Along with about 30 other people, most of whom seemed glued to their iphones. I took out my iphone ready for the kids to start fighting over it, already calculating time limits in my head, when all of a sudden an "ahh-ha" moment occurred to me - what if we actually used this time to talk with each other? Crazy, right? So I decided to take us back a few centuries.

We played "I spy with my little eyes", we told stories, we complained, we danced. We waited. And slowly the movie started to appear before us - like watching a polaroid develop. At first we could only make out a few images - is that an eye? a chin? lights? When the sky darkened everything became bright and colorful and somewhat mesmerizing as an ordinary concrete building converted into a gigantic movie screen.

I liked some of the videos more than others (some were a little too music-videoesque for me) but certain scenes - like cars driving on the highway at night, colors flashing, and Tilda Swinson singing - stunned us all. By around 9:10 pm (with a fully dark sky) the girls started asking for bed (though T wanted to "watch movie all night"), so we meandered back to our car - dancing with grandma the whole way. Along Independence Avenue several cars had pulled over, as we all collectively stopped to watch the show.

The exhibit ends on Sunday. So if you have a chance, go this weekend. Even a drive by. It's worth it. Really. (Though the song will be stuck in your head for days). None of my pictures turned out very well, so click here for more images.

Sometimes it amazes me how much wonderful free stuff exists in this city. How lucky we are. Seriously.

WEEKEND LINKS:

*Why can't i find a yarn bombed park to play in? This looks SO FUN!!

*Todd Oldham's new target line of kids made modern art supplies looks awesome.

*Make Way for Ducklings in Seattle. We love that book, so to see it in real life would be amazing.



Apparently you're not supposed to sit on the sculptures. Or so we learned.



Waiting can be fun. Really. (F's still rocking her magazine bead necklace, so cool).



Pictures slowly emerge. Slowly.



And finally, dark brings a "movie." So much fun!!