LEMUR Takes Washington - Mar 12, 2006

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Just in case you weren't sure which city I was talking about. Actually, the Ballet Mechanique is over in the East Building with the Dada exhibit, but it's a nice sign. The installation of Ballet Mechanique was commissioned for the National Gallery's Dada exhibition. Here we see some Dada puppets. Ballet Mechanique is installed in the Mezzanine in the same space with works from such greats as Calder, Max Ernst, Andy Goldsworthy, and others. In this picture Ballet Mechanique is in the upper right against the windows. Looking back across the Mezzanine. The crowd begins to grow while the Calder turns overhead. The 16 player pianos form a nice curve. One of the 16 player pianos. From left to right (not including the player pianos) we can see one of the xylobots, a fan, the gong, a bass drum and electric bells. Some of LEMUR crew waiting to watch the performance from above (better view of the instruments, and it's still plenty loud!) T-minus five minutes. I like feet. The crowd watches the performance. It was incredibly and appropriately loud. Someone commented "It gave me the sense of urgency I suspect one might feel when bombs are being dropped over one's head." This lady attended the peformance wearing red, yellow, red and turquoise and carrying a stuffed alligator. Dada! The Mac controls the robots using an adaptation of George Antheil's score. Eric with one of the xylobots. Xylobot closeup. Closeup of xylophone hammers. Antheil called for three propellor blades. Here we use robotic fans. The incredibly loud siren. You can see why this piece is infamous. Robotic bass drum. The electric bells. Eric with his daughter Callista. Yours truly and one of the xylophones I helped build! If you miss the performance there is a looping video of it, but you will be sad not to see the real thing. Mounds by Andy Goldsworthy, just underneath us on the floor below! As the sun sets, the lights seem more orange. End of the day, and time to head back to NYC. The Calder still slowly spins.