Sleepwalkers

Sleepwalkers
by Doug Aitken
Adopted
In recognition and celebration of
David Johnson for
Inspiring Environmental Consciousness and Ensuring a Sustainable Planet
through the Arts, Sciences and Humanities.

Smithsonian National Board | MOCA
on March 6, 2023
Doug Aitken, Sleepwalkers: Fragments, Markings, and Images From the Making of Sleepwalkers, full box contents

Sleepwalkers : fragments, markings and images from the making of Sleepwalkers

By Doug Aitken. New York, NY: Princeton Architectural Press, c2011.

Los Angeles-based video artist Doug Aitken is known for his multi-screen environments projected onto iconic buildings, including the Smithsonian Institution’s Hirshhorn Museum in 2012. In the spring of 2007, Aitken premiered the video projection Sleepwalkers on seven facades of the Museum of Modern Art in midtown Manhattan. Four years later, Aitken partnered with Princeton Architectural Press and DFA Records to create a multimedia artist’s box based on Sleepwalkers. The box is packed with goodies that encourage audiences to create their own tactile, multisensory experiences from materials inspired by the installation. The exquisitely designed box contains a 23-by-36-inch, double-sided poster; a 12-inch vinyl picture disc with unreleased tracks by Broadcast, as well as a live recording of Aitken's opera, "the handle comes up, the hammer comes down"; a CD of the same, plus further tracks by acts including Canyon Country and Bibio; two flipbooks with sequences excerpted from the film; a DVD with a special-edition cut of Sleepwalkers and a street-level walkthrough; and an enlightening 96-page visual diary, "Fragments, Markings and Images from the Making of Sleepwalkers," which tells the story of the installation's conception from the inside out. The Hirshhorn Library has number 237 of 1000 signed copies.

Discover more about this book in our Catalog.

Adoption Type: Build and Access the Collection