Hirshhorn Plaza

Helen Marten, Still from 'Orchids, or a Hemispherical Bottom,' 2013
Helen Marten, Still from “Orchids, or a Hemispherical Bottom,” 2013. © Helen Marten. Courtesy Sadie Coles HQ, London

June 19, 2015

Opening Feb. 10, 2016
Features Artists Working with Digital Animation, Curated by Gianni Jetzer

Roughly a century after the production of the first animated film, the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden presents “Suspended Animation.” The exhibition, which opens Feb. 10, 2016, brings together six artists who use computer animation in their work: Ed Atkins, Antoine Catala, Ian Cheng, Josh Kline, Helen Marten and Agnieszka Polska.

“Technologically produced images increasingly influence and define our lives,” said Gianni Jetzer, the exhibition’s curator and the Hirshhorn’s curator-at-large. “The greater use of animation by artists mirrors directly this radical shift in our culture.”

The artists in the exhibition use digitally generated images as a tool to question conceptions of reality. Their immersive environments confront the viewer with the actualities of the digital age, such as the dissolution of privacy, the digitization of identity and the impact of a hyperreal virtual world on tangible physical experience.

Animation today, however, is radically different from its beginnings, where its aspiration was to “animate” still images, to bring them to life. Rather than aiming for vitality, the artists in the exhibition create animations that interrogate the image itself. The term “suspended animation” is used in science and science fiction to describe the replacement of natural animation by machines that control and secure vitality.

Rather than mimicking the real, animation now challenges human consciousness and aesthetic perception. Reality is no longer the benchmark for the imperfect image, but rather the animated image provides the measure for an imperfect reality.

About the artists

Ed Atkins (British, b. 1982, Oxford; lives and works in London) works mainly with computer-generated characters and scenes that are built upon self-performance and explore the creation of alternative notions of space and time. He has been the focus of major solo exhibitions at MoMA PS1, the Bonner Kunstverein and Tate Britain.

Antoine Catala (French, b. 1978, Toulouse; lives and works in New York) pairs animation with pneumatic sculptures and holograms, creating encounters that drift into the humorous but also investigate the edges of perception. He has had solo exhibitions at Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon and the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Ian Cheng (American, b. 1984, Los Angeles; lives and works in New York) studied cognitive science at UC Berkeley. In his live simulations, familiar objects are programmed with basic properties but are left to influence each other without authorial control. He has had solo exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf and the Sandretto Re Rebaudengo Foundation.

Josh Kline (American, b. 1979, Philadelphia; lives and works in New York) draws inspiration from advertising, social media and the latest technological innovations. His sculptural installations reflect on digital transformations and their impact on the social and political sphere. He has a solo exhibition at Modern Art Oxford this summer.

Helen Marten (British, b. 1985, Macclesfield; lives and works in London) creates animated objects and interiors whose artificial surfaces give them an uncanny presence. Voiceovers unrelated to the action onscreen add deliberately enigmatic explanatory undertones. Marten has had solo exhibitions at Palais de Tokyo, Paris; Kunsthalle Zürich and CCS Bard.

Agnieszka Polska (Polish, b. 1985, Lublin; lives and works in Warsaw) creates immersive, hallucinatory animations that exploit ambiguities of understanding in visual imagery, verbal language and science. She has had solo exhibitions at Nottingham Contemporary, the Salzburger Kunstverein and the Centre for Contemporary Art, Ujazdowski Castle.

For more information, visit hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/suspended-animation.

About the Hirshhorn
Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is the Smithsonian Institution’s museum of international modern and contemporary art. With nearly 12,000 paintings, sculptures, photographs, mixed-media installations, works on paper and new media works, its holdings encompass one of the leading collections of postwar American and European art. The Hirshhorn presents diverse exhibitions and offers an array of public programs that explore modern and contemporary art. Located at Independence Avenue and Seventh Street S.W., the museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission to the galleries and special programs is free. For more information about exhibitions and events, visit hirshhorn.si.edu. Follow the Hirshhorn on Facebook at facebook.com/hirshhorn, on Twitter at twitter.com/hirshhorn, on Tumblr at hirshhorn.tumblr.com and on Instagram at instagram.com/hirshhorn. Or sign up for the museum’s eBlasts at hirshhorn.si.edu/collection/social-media. To request accessibility services, contact Kristy Maruca at marucak@si.edu or (202) 633-2796, preferably two weeks in advance.