Ceiling art at the Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow

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Step into a world of words at the Hirshhorn Museum, where this immersive, black-and-white text installation completely transforms the gallery space into a thought-provoking, visually striking experience. The artist’s dynamic brushwork covers every inch of the floor, walls, and even the ceiling with handwritten text, illustrations, and graffiti-like scrawls, all in stark black and white. Snippets of phrases, poetry, and protest statements intermingle, challenging visitors to consider questions of identity, politics, history, and the human condition.

Visitors are dwarfed by towering phrases that ask, “What is truth?” and “Who owns the future?”, while figures and animals emerge from the painted chaos, including a prominent black sculpture of a raven—a potent symbol of transformation and observation. At the center of the room, a bright yellow canoe pops against the monochrome backdrop, an unexpected dash of color that invites both curiosity and contemplation.

The installation’s scale and detail create a sense of total immersion, urging visitors to physically move through and around the words, reading, pondering, and engaging with the artist’s urgent message. Each visitor becomes part of the artwork itself, their shadows cast on the text-laden floor as they navigate the space.

This installation exemplifies contemporary art’s power to challenge perceptions and invite dialogue, transforming a museum into an interactive environment where language and imagery converge. It’s a place where every footstep lands on a phrase or thought, and every glance finds new questions to ponder.

The Hirshhorn Museum, part of the Smithsonian Institution, continues to champion innovative, boundary-pushing contemporary art, and this installation stands as a testament to that mission. For those seeking an unforgettable, interactive experience that bridges text and visual art, this exhibit offers a unique journey through the written word’s raw energy and expressive power.

This evocative wooden signpost on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. is a powerful artifact from the 2016 protests at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Composed of dozens of handmade directional signs, each pointing toward Native nations and Indigenous homelands across North America, the post embodies solidarity, resilience, and resistance. During the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests, known as the #NoDAPL movement, this kind of signpost was erected at the Oceti Sakowin camp to show how far people had traveled to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s defense of their water, land, and sovereignty.

The signs mark communities like Six Nations (2,165 km away), Lummi Nation, Diné lands, Fort Buffalo (500 yards), and many more, forming a symbolic network of Indigenous unity. In the background, a panoramic photo of the Standing Rock encampment captures rows of tipis, tents, and banners stretching across the North Dakota plains. This installation captures not just a physical protest, but a spiritual and pan-tribal gathering unprecedented in recent memory.

The quote from Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, underscores the centuries of injustice Native people have endured: “Our people have tolerated this kind of treatment for over 200 years, and enough is enough.” This signpost doesn't simply tell you where someone came from—it tells you who stood together.

This object now serves as both historical documentation and cultural testimony, showing the reach and unity of Native voices across Turtle Island. It honors the environmental, cultural, and spiritual dimensions of the movement.

Inside the soaring glass atrium of the Military Women’s Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery, a bronze sculpture titled The Pledge captures a moment of profound connection and duty. The work, created by sculptor Susan Bahary, depicts a kneeling servicewoman in full combat gear extending her hand to a loyal military working dog. This evocative piece pays tribute to the often-overlooked yet vital bond between women in uniform and the service animals who stand beside them in dangerous, high-stakes environments.

Gifted by the United States War Dogs Association, the statue honors all women of the U.S. Armed Forces—past, present, and future—and symbolizes the shared responsibility and sacrifice between human and canine in protecting American lives and freedoms. The inscription beneath reads: “To protect and defend our country”, grounding the sculpture in the values of service and resolve.

Behind the statue, the glass wall of the memorial is adorned with hundreds of paper cutouts shaped like yellow ribbons and service figures. These cheerful symbols—each likely representing a specific woman in service or supporter—add color, hope, and intimacy to the solemn interior. Light filters through the installation, casting shadows that shift throughout the day, evoking a sense of presence and remembrance.

To the left of the sculpture, a nearby sign introduces one of the many individual stories recorded and celebrated here. The Military Women’s Memorial functions not only as a physical tribute but also as a storytelling archive, documenting the lives, achievements, and courage of women who have served across every branch of the military.

The photograph captures the balance of reverence and warmth that defines this space. The polished floors and clean architecture speak to dignity and precision, while the statue and personal tokens humanize the story of service. The presence of the dog reminds visitors that military contributions often extend beyond traditional roles, encompassing partnerships, intelligence, emotional support, and resilience in the face of war.

This interior view of the Military Women’s Memorial encapsulates its mission: to recognize the full scope of women’s roles in American military history. It’s a sacred and inspiring space, where sculpture, light, memory, and meaning converge.

“Not in Service” by OSGEMEOS transforms the humble subway car into a portal of nostalgia, rebellion, and fantasy. Installed at the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, this sculptural work by Brazilian twin brothers Otávio and Gustavo Pandolfo captures a slice of 1980s New York graffiti culture through the unmistakable lens of their yellow-skinned characters and exuberant style. Every detail—from the graffiti-tagged surfaces to the expressionless, watchful faces of the passengers—tells a story of subversion and survival, joy and isolation.

The piece invites viewers to pause and step into a moment frozen in time. Three central figures emerge from the car, chained to the handle as if they’re both captive and guardians of their mobile realm. One sports flared yellow pants and an afro beneath a trucker cap that reads “Frosty Fresh,” another wears a “Space Invaders” t-shirt, while the third clutches a spray can, mid-tag. A fourth figure peers out from further down the car, gazing with curiosity or caution. OSGEMEOS’s distinctive blend of street art, cultural memory, and cartoon surrealism blurs boundaries between realism and fantasy, street life and high art.

This piece is part of a larger body of work that honors hip-hop, graffiti, and resistance. It reflects how public transit, especially in New York, became a canvas for voices marginalized and a stage for self-invention. “Not in Service” both memorializes and animates that legacy through its vibrancy and immersive scale.

The installation invites us not just to look, but to listen—to the rhythm of the streets, the call of youth culture, and the enduring creative defiance etched into steel and paint. It’s a monument to movement, memory, and imagination.

Powerful typography and provocative messaging collide in this immersive installation by conceptual artist Barbara Kruger at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Known for her signature visual language that combines black-and-white imagery with bold, declarative text, Kruger here takes over the physical space itself—wrapping walls, floor, and ceiling with confrontational questions and commands rendered in high-contrast red, black, and white.

The photograph centers on a nondescript black door, over which hangs the question: “WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU LAUGHED?” The white text is printed in Kruger’s familiar Futura Bold Oblique typeface, demanding immediate attention. Beneath the viewer’s feet (and printed upside-down from this vantage), her floor text begins to reveal itself: “VIOLENCE BECAUSE IT’S...”, suggesting more language continues beyond the frame. The wall-mounted words, partially visible to the left and right, reinforce the installation’s scale and enveloping nature.

Kruger’s text-based art functions like a billboard or protest sign—intentionally loud, visually arresting, and intellectually invasive. Her work critiques consumerism, gender dynamics, cultural power structures, and language itself. At the Hirshhorn, the entire gallery is transformed into a site-specific experience that forces visitors to consider how messaging and environment influence emotion, memory, and identity.

The composition of the image is minimalist yet packed with tension. The door, physically uninviting, becomes a psychological hinge—an exit, perhaps, from the relentless text, or maybe a metaphorical passageway to self-reflection. By anchoring the image around this black void, the viewer is asked to grapple not only with the content of the words, but also with their own absence of laughter—or, conversely, its recent presence. Kruger’s prompt isn’t rhetorical; it is pressing.

The installation is part of the Hirshhorn’s ongoing commitment to presenting contemporary artists who challenge norms and engage with modern life through critical, often uncomfortable questions. The artist’s deployment of language-as-architecture turns the museum from a passive display space into a thought-provoking experience—a place where introspection, dissent, and cultural interrogation unfold in bold capital letters.

Visitors may feel unsettled, invigorated, or amused. That’s the point. In an age of information saturation, Kruger’s insistence on clarity, intensity, and blunt confrontation is both timeless and urgently of the moment. Whether you laugh or not, you will remember.

Stepping into this piece feels like entering a sacred portal—a psychedelic shrine at the intersection of contemporary street art, Brazilian mysticism, and surreal theater. Created by Os Gêmeos, the celebrated Brazilian twin brothers Otávio and Gustavo Pandolfo, this installation titled Retrato (“Portrait”) serves as the luminous centerpiece of the Hirshhorn Museum’s expanded “Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection 1860–1960” exhibition.

True to their globally iconic style, Os Gêmeos imbue the space with otherworldly energy. A faceless, yellow-skinned figure stands at the center of the altar stage, holding two floating vessels. Its entire head glows white—a source of divine radiance or internal vision—casting soft light across its limbs. Behind it, a painted sunset swirls with radiant oranges and golden clouds, reminiscent of spiritual ecstasy or dreams of flight. The frame is lined with a floral border, nodding to the folk traditions and Catholic altars of Brazil’s cultural heritage.

The installation is boldly architectural. Rainbow-colored stairs rise symmetrically on either side of the stage, drawing the viewer upward like a visual ascension. Atop each stair tower rests a large sculpted hand in a mudra-like gesture, holding a single all-seeing eye—symbolizing awakening, inner truth, or cosmic protection.

Color here is not just decoration—it’s vibration. The green platform on which the figure stands hums with life. Terracotta and ceramic vessels rest nearby, suggesting ritual or offering. The symmetry, the theatricality, and the dreamlike character recall both devotional spaces and pop surrealism. But the effect is entirely Os Gêmeos: playful, profound, and unmistakably theirs.

Their figures—yellow-skinned dreamers with closed or half-closed eyes—have long served as stand-ins for the artists themselves and for a larger, borderless tribe of dreamers. Whether dancing across skyscrapers or tucked into alleyway murals, their characters evoke timeless myth and futuristic optimism in equal measure. In this installation, the character has stepped into priesthood or prophecy, inviting viewers to witness an inner revolution.

The Retrato altar’s inclusion in the Revolutions exhibit isn’t just a nod to contemporary relevance—it’s a conceptual leap that connects historic ruptures in art to ongoing urban mythmaking. By juxtaposing works by Kandinsky, Léger, or Mondrian with Os Gêmeos’ luminous vision, the museum extends the story of modernism into the spiritual and streetwise 21st century.

As the Hirshhorn celebrates its 50th anniversary, this altar stands as a tribute not just to art history, but to the living, dreaming spirit of art itself—ever evolving, never still.

An immersive, dreamlike room blurs the boundary between domestic familiarity and surreal fantasy in this installation photo taken at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. The scene is part of an ongoing exploration of surrealism and memory by Brazilian street artists OSGEMEOS, known for merging dream logic with vibrant storytelling. The entire room—walls, furniture, and even light—appears to float in a painted ocean that overtakes the interior, as if submerging memory itself.

At the center of this fictional domestic space is a round wooden table with modest chairs and a duck figurine centerpiece, grounded by a traditional patterned rug. But the realism stops there. On the wall, a pale human-faced moon reclines horizontally, its luminous gaze cast dreamily across the space, while a familiar yellow figure—seen previously in the artists’ floating boat mural—appears to rest behind a green velvet chair. A grandfather clock, mismatched picture frames, and floating houses add to the strange, dislocated charm.

Framed portraits, including one that appears childlike and another reminiscent of manga style, suggest a patchwork of cultural and emotional memory. A man’s suit hangs solemnly from a wall hook, juxtaposed with painted waves that lap at the edges of a constructed narrative—blending personal history with universal longing.

This space isn’t just a room—it’s a subconscious echo, suspended between waking life and the underwater weight of dreams. It invites viewers into a liminal world where objects breathe, time warps, and memories surface like shipwrecked artifacts.

On display at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., this striking ceremonial dress tells a layered story of cultural identity, resilience, and military service. Crafted from wool and adorned with beadwork, elk teeth, and metallic embellishments, the garment incorporates two unmistakable yellow-and-black shoulder patches from the U.S. Army’s 1st Cavalry Division—an emblem often associated with post–World War II deployments, Vietnam War service, and contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But what is a pair of military patches doing on a Native dress?

For many Native American communities, military service is not only a source of pride—it’s deeply embedded in cultural tradition. Indigenous peoples serve in the U.S. military at higher per capita rates than any other demographic. These insignia were likely added to the dress to honor a loved one—perhaps a son, daughter, or multiple family members—who served in the 1st Cavalry Division. The inclusion of two patches could indicate two individuals, dual deployments, or a symbolic doubling of valor.

Rather than being incongruous, the patches exist in dialogue with the garment’s traditional symbols. The elk teeth speak to wealth and status; the detailed beadwork marks tribal affiliation and craftsmanship; the silver conchos and tin cone jingles give voice to movement and ceremony. Together, the elements create a narrative of honor, family, continuity, and sacrifice—blending traditional regalia with contemporary identity.

This fusion of Indigenous and military iconography illustrates how Native families navigate modern realities without surrendering ancestral roots. It’s a living tradition—resilient, adaptive, and proud.

Located within the imposing rotunda of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., Allies in War, Partners in Peace is a powerful bronze sculpture by artist Edward Hlavka. This monumental piece honors the Haudenosaunee Confederacy—also known as the Iroquois or Six Nations—and their alliance with the United States during the Revolutionary War.

At the center stands a Haudenosaunee woman, basket of corn in hand, symbolizing sustenance and peacekeeping, flanked by a colonial American officer and a Haudenosaunee warrior. The sculpture is deeply rooted—literally and symbolically—within a sculpted base filled with turtles, bears, and plant life, referencing the Haudenosaunee origin story and connection to the natural world. Rising from behind them, a metal representation of the Great Tree of Peace binds the three figures together in shared purpose and treaty.

Commissioned by the Oneida Indian Nation, the sculpture was dedicated in 2004, the same year the museum opened its doors. The Oneida were the first American Indian nation to ally with the United States during the War of Independence. Hlavka’s work memorializes this act of unity while also acknowledging the long-standing diplomatic and cultural relationships Native nations have fostered both among themselves and with the federal government.

This richly symbolic composition is not only a tribute to historical cooperation, but also a reminder of the enduring presence of Indigenous nations as sovereign and active participants in contemporary civic life.

A playful, otherworldly spectacle unfolds at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., where a signature installation by Brazilian art duo OSGEMEOS—Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo—takes center stage. Suspended from the ceiling, a stylized UFO-shaped craft emits a radiant cone of color, encapsulating one of the artists’ iconic yellow figures in a beam of light. Clad in an orange spacesuit and calmly hovering within the spectrum, the figure becomes both subject and symbol—caught mid-abduction or mid-transcendence, depending on one’s perspective.

The transparent cone fades from red at the top to deep purple at the base, forming a prism that bathes the floor in kaleidoscopic hues. Like much of OSGEMEOS' work, this piece is infused with whimsy, nostalgia, and streetwise narrative—a psychedelic nod to childhood wonder, sci-fi mythology, and cultural hybridity. The installation melds low-fi imagination with high-concept presentation, transforming the museum floor into a scene from a technicolor dream.

Framed by vibrant paintings on adjacent yellow walls, the piece becomes part of a larger conversation on identity, displacement, and otherworldliness. In one painting, bright characters gather in front of candy-colored dwellings. In another, folkloric figures engage in ceremonial poses. Together, the room vibrates with rhythm and story, echoing the brothers’ São Paulo street art roots while embracing the museum’s modernist architecture.

A standout example of the duo’s boundary-breaking artistry, this installation invites visitors not just to observe—but to believe in the power of imagination, interdimensional travel, and cultural memory. It’s a reminder that art, much like the alien beam, has the power to lift us beyond the everyday.

This exuberant mural by Os Gêmeos bursts off the brick wall with the dynamic energy of a 1980s block party. Captured in New York City and now exhibited photographically at the Hirshhorn Museum, the work showcases the signature yellow-skinned characters of the Brazilian street art duo, whose real names are Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo. Rendered with surreal proportions and animated postures, the figures convey both swagger and soul, embodying the essence of street culture across time and continents.

Each character in this scene feels like a personality plucked from a dance floor or subway car—one wears a “Frosty Freeze” cap in homage to the legendary breakdancer, another cradles a towering boombox, and all four groove with exaggerated limbs and flashy fits. Their elongated limbs, mismatched sneakers, and patterned clothing burst with storytelling detail. Os Gêmeos, deeply influenced by hip-hop and São Paulo’s vibrant graffiti scene, translate that rhythm into brushstrokes and spray paint, layering their pieces with cultural memory and a touch of magical realism.

Installed at street level in the heart of Manhattan, this mural was not simply painted—it was performed. Like many Os Gêmeos works, it was created in public view, inviting everyday New Yorkers to pause, watch, and connect with their surroundings through art. Even when removed from its original location and recontextualized inside a gallery or museum, it retains that participatory energy. You feel like you could walk right into the party.

The mural’s photographic display within Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection 1860–1960 serves as a bridge between eras, linking contemporary street art to historical revolutions in visual expression. Just as Impressionists broke away from academic painting and Dadaists disrupted norms with radical experimentation, Os Gêmeos push past the conventions of the white cube and challenge where art belongs—and who it’s for.

Bright, cheeky, and undeniably alive, this mural is more than a colorful wall: it’s a conversation. Between neighborhoods and nations, past and present, music and paint, Os Gêmeos use their twin telepathy to weave a visual rhythm that makes you stop, smile, and maybe even dance.

You’ll find works like this throughout their global portfolio—from the favelas of São Paulo to the walls of Berlin and Boston. But here, against a red-brick New York wall, their art pulses with a distinctly American bounce. It’s nostalgia wrapped in aerosol, memory painted in motion, a flash of joy with revolutionary undertones.

Displayed in the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., this striking beaded blanket panel titled Women’s Northern Traditional Dance (2007) is a work by Kiowa artist Teri Greeves. Rendered on a field of white wool and framed in museum glass, the piece features a row of eight stylized female dancers, each dressed in regalia reflecting the Northern Plains tradition. The dancers’ upright postures, intricately beaded dresses, and feathered fans speak to the strength, elegance, and cultural pride embodied in women’s traditional dance at powwows across Native America.

Greeves, who is widely celebrated for using beadwork as a storytelling medium, combines contemporary design with deep cultural knowledge. Her figures are minimalist yet expressive, adorned in magenta, black, and gold with bold, abstract lines that recall both historical ledger art and modernist aesthetics. Each figure is a testament to the enduring presence of Indigenous women and the ceremonial practices that sustain Native identity.

The piece hangs just above a long, white fringe, echoing the movement of the dance itself—both literal and symbolic. Captured here within the museum’s contemporary architectural context, it offers a powerful statement of continuity, beauty, and resilience. The Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian provides a sacred and public space for works like this to be shared with a global audience, emphasizing that Native art is not static or historical, but vital and ongoing.

This electrifying photo and video installation celebrates the golden age of hip-hop through a mosaic of moments — breakdancers in mid-spin, crews posing with boomboxes, emcees flexing their gear, and neighborhoods transformed into stages. Now featured in the Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection 1860–1960 exhibit, this vibrant wall pulses with the energy of the 1970s and 1980s Bronx, New York, where hip-hop emerged not just as music, but as a full cultural movement of expression, resistance, and artistry.

Each image captures a slice of that moment: kids flipping off walls, crews getting low to the beat, and dancers showcasing acrobatic feats that defy gravity. Centered in the display is a video still — a blur of red motion frozen in a power move — with subtitles that read “put on a display of rhythm, skill and creativity.” It perfectly encapsulates the essence of hip-hop’s birth as an artform of improvisation and identity.

These photos go beyond mere documentation. They are tributes to a revolutionary era of self-made artists who shaped sound, language, and style. From the park jams to the subway cars, this visual chronicle honors the people and places that made hip-hop a global language. You can see iconic tropes: Kangol hats, windbreakers, Adidas tracksuits, and the ever-present boombox — symbols that have come to define an entire aesthetic and philosophy.

In the context of the Revolutions exhibition, this hip-hop wall functions as a crucial contemporary counterpart to the earlier artistic revolutions represented in the gallery. Like Dada, Surrealism, or Abstract Expressionism, hip-hop was — and remains — a radically democratic form of cultural innovation. Born from limited means but limitless imagination, it was a reclamation of space, voice, and power. It didn't wait for the museum to come to it; it made the street the gallery.

While many of the artists featured in this exhibit came from institutional backgrounds, these hip-hop pioneers built a legacy outside of traditional systems — and eventually influenced everything from fashion and film to fine art and politics. The Hirshhorn’s inclusion of this multimedia work alongside movements like Cubism or Futurism affirms hip-hop’s place in the broader narrative of art history.

What’s most striking is the joy. Despite the gritty backdrops and economic adversity that often defined their neighborhoods, the subjects of these photos beam with pride, energy, and connection. The rhythm lives in their bodies, their outfits, their poses — a rhythm that continues to echo worldwide.

Whether you're a lifelong fan or a newcomer to the culture, this piece captures the heartbeat of a generation that turned turntables into tools, sidewalks into stages, and struggle into style.

Bold, immersive, and unapologetically confrontational, this typographic environment showcases Barbara Kruger’s signature visual language, transforming a commercial escalator into a platform for social critique. The towering words “MONEY MAKES MONEY” streak diagonally across the red escalator fascia in thick, white uppercase letters. Beneath them, Kruger's floor-to-ceiling text—sharp and declarative—blankets the walls and flooring in her unmistakable aesthetic: black, white, and red, all caps, all command.

This work functions like a visual bullhorn. You don’t just view it—you’re engulfed in it. As visitors ride the escalator or walk the floor, they are literally walking on, past, and through messages that demand reflection. Kruger’s phrases, including “FORGET” and “AS YOU DO SO, SO SHALL YOU BE A THOUSAND TIMES,” cut into the viewer's psyche like editorial footnotes on consumerism, identity, and memory. It’s not background art—it’s foreground activism.

Kruger, a conceptual artist whose work emerged from the convergence of graphic design, feminism, and political critique, uses her installations to question the status quo. In this image, the strategic placement of slogans along the moving escalator accentuates the work’s commentary on capital and mobility. The phrase “MONEY MAKES MONEY” becomes more than a statement—it becomes a loop, both physically as the escalator moves and symbolically as capitalism feeds itself.

There’s irony baked into the installation’s location as well. By situating this piece in a retail or museum space, Kruger prompts viewers to consider their roles in systems of commodification. Are they participating? Observing? Resisting? The clean, corporate surroundings serve as a foil to the raw urgency of her typography, magnifying the message’s subversiveness.

The typeface, Futura Bold Oblique, evokes advertising vernacular while rejecting it simultaneously. The minimalism is aggressive. There are no images, no soft gradients—just text and color slamming into you with the gravity of protest. Kruger’s genius lies in the tension she creates between clarity and critique.

What makes this particular photo powerful is how it captures not only the artwork but the interaction between space, viewer, and message. The escalator’s slope, the color isolation in red, and the careful crop of the frame emphasize how Kruger manipulates spatial dynamics to trap and guide the viewer’s gaze. Typography becomes architecture.

Whether seen in-person or through the lens, this work crystallizes the visual ethos of Barbara Kruger—text as resistance, art as intervention. The piece asks you not just to look, but to think. To question your complicity. To wonder, truly: What are you buying, and what are you selling?

A whimsical night scene unfolds in this towering mural captured at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., a beloved institution on the National Mall known for its commitment to bold, contemporary art. The artwork features a surreal narrative: a yellow-faced, pajama-clad figure reclining across two wooden boats adrift in a vivid teal sea. In one hand, the figure cradles a tiny, bright house, while a tilted lighthouse anchors the composition in the lower right. Above, a crescent moon with a dreamy, humanlike face gazes down through misty clouds, evoking both watchfulness and serenity. The moon’s expression adds emotional depth, suggesting themes of longing, guardianship, or the subconscious mind.

Rendered in richly saturated hues and gestural brushwork, the piece bridges reality and fantasy—key traits of the warchitecture movement, a style merging fantastical architecture and dreamlike scenes, often incorporating emotional storytelling and vibrant, mural-scale visuals. The ocean’s textured brushstrokes ripple with movement, heightening the sense of drifting and vulnerability. This floating dreamscape—possibly a metaphor for emotional journeying or cultural displacement—offers a moment of introspection, balancing playfulness with melancholy.

Like much of the Hirshhorn’s public-facing collection, the mural invites dialogue between viewer and space, blurring the boundaries between waking life and imagination. It's a celebration of artistic freedom that resonates especially strongly in a museum renowned for championing experimental voices.

Captured inside the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, DC, this photo features a kinetic sculpture by Brazilian twin artists OSGEMEOS, known for their vividly surreal and deeply narrative visual language. The piece is part of their immersive installation, where motion, music, and light bring a sculptural tableau to life in a hypnotic loop of storytelling. Stylized yellow figures with bowl-cut hair dance, tumble, and gesticulate around a central axis, surrounding what appears to be a cake topped with candles — an eerie, dreamlike birthday ritual charged with both joy and distortion.

OSGEMEOS (Otávio and Gustavo Pandolfo) are internationally celebrated for their unique fusion of street art, folklore, and animation, often drawing from Brazilian cultural memory, hip-hop, and their own subconscious. Here, they breathe life into sculpture using a rotating zoetrope-like mechanism. As the lights strobe, the static figures blur into animation, evoking childlike wonder while also unsettling the viewer with uncanny repetition and surreal expression.

This work blends old-world mechanical illusion with contemporary street aesthetics, offering a layered commentary on celebration, identity, and the passage of time. It’s a highlight of the Hirshhorn’s exploration of motion and memory in modern art and a powerful example of how OSGEMEOS bridge high art and street sensibilities.

Visitors to this exhibit are often seen lingering, mesmerized by the transformation of still forms into narrative spectacle — a hallmark of the duo’s ability to enchant and provoke simultaneously. Whether encountered in a museum or on a São Paulo wall, OSGEMEOS’s figures invite viewers to step into a fantastical realm where movement, rhythm, and symbolism take center stage.

Users will register by choosing a Space Guard Name then undergoing a simulated biometric scan.

Ideum is working with Lowell Observatory on an upcoming exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum is developing 5 connected interactives as well as a student registration station and a system to track student scores and ranks. Look for more information and pictures in the near future. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

User experience testing an exhibit about asteroid impacts on Earth.

Ideum is working with Lowell Observatory on an upcoming exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum is developing 5 connected interactives as well as a student registration station and a system to track student scores and ranks. Look for more information and pictures in the near future. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Testing an application about asteroid photometry.

Ideum is working with Lowell Observatory on an upcoming exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum is developing 5 connected interactives as well as a student registration station and a system to track student scores and ranks. Look for more information and pictures in the near future. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum worked with the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum to create these 84" 4K multitouch tables turnkey systems fabricated out of aluminum. Each system is lockable and ruggedized for public spaces.

These tables have projected capacitive touch technology and have built NFC stations, allowing visitors to "check in" with a specialized stylus pen. Using NFC technology allows visitors to personalize and customize their museum experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum built first-of-their-kind 4K UHD 55" and 84" multitouch tables for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. These tables are an intricate part of The New Cooper Hewitt Experience.

These tables have projected capacitive touch technology and have built NFC stations, allowing visitors to "check in" with a specialized stylus pen. This allows visitors to personalize and customize their experience at the museum.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum collaborated with Exploratorium’s Global Studios on a project that drew us outside of the realm of multitouch table development. We built a series of highly customized interactives for the Kayseri Science Center in Turkey.

In "Star Colors," visitors play a game to learn about star identification. Embedded in each of the three prop “telescopes” is a small LCD screen where visitors can “view” the stars hanging in front of them. Through a series of prompts received on the Windows Surface Tablet touch display, visitors try to correctly identify stars based on their spectral patterns. Ideum fabricated and tested the telescopes here in New Mexico.

Photo courtesy the Exploratorium.

Ideum's experienced staff builds all our hardware on-site in our Corrales studios. These 84" 4K UHD multitouch tables are undergoing final testing. These custom units were built for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum to complement their renovation, which will offer 60 percent more gallery space and a more participatory museum experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum collaborated with Exploratorium’s Global Studios on a project that drew us outside of the realm of multitouch table development. We built a series of highly customized interactives for the Kayseri Science Center in Turkey.

Ideum’s industrial designers and engineers worked closely with the team at the Exploratorium to build these complex “telescope” props for the “Star Colors” interactive. The telescope utilizes an embedded 4.3" LCD screen to “view” stars hanging in the exhibition space. The stars move across the LCD as the visitor pushes the telescope from left to right. A rotary encoder embedded into a gear box at the base of the telescope relays positional data to an Arduino which then communicates that data to the application running on the Surface tablet. The telescopes were fabricated, assembled, and tested here in New Mexico.

Photo Courtesy the Exploratorium.

Ideum has developed first-of-their kind, 4K UHD 84" multitouch tables with built in NFC for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum, including these four 84" 4K multitouch tables. These new touch tables are a critical part of The New Cooper Hewitt Experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum developed first-of-their-kind 4K UHD 55" and 84" multitouch tables for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. These tables have projected capacitive touch technology and have built NFC stations, allowing visitors to "check in" with a specialized stylus pen. All of the units are fabricated out of aluminum and are turnkey systems.

Learn more at www.ideum.com

Ideum builds our ruggedized aluminum multitouch tables on-site in our Corrales campus. Our experienced staff handles all aspects from construction to tech support. These four 84" 4K multitouch tables were created for the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum collaborated with Exploratorium’s Global Studios on a project that drew us outside of the realm of multitouch table development. We built a series of highly customized interactives for the Kayseri Science Center in Turkey.

In the interactive game, “Treasured Materials,” visitors learn about materials found in nature (wool, nacre, petroleum, etc.) by matching those materials with clues about their unique properties. This interactive can be played in single-player or two-player mode.

Photo Courtesy the Exploratorium.

Ideum collaborated with Exploratorium’s Global Studios on a project that drew us outside of the realm of multitouch table development. We built a series of highly customized interactives for the Kayseri Science Center in Turkey.

In the interactive game, “Treasured Materials,” visitors learn about materials found in nature (wool, nacre, petroleum, etc.) by matching those materials with clues about their unique properties. This interactive can be played in single-player or two-player mode.

Each player has a set of 10 clear acrylic pucks that are embedded with natural materials and have a unique RFID tag on their underside. Clues are presented on the player’s touchscreen, and they must determine the material that those clues are referring to. To answer, the player places a puck on an animated 32x32 LED panel powered by a Teensy microcontroller. An embedded RFID reader scans the tag from the puck, and the visitor receives virtual feedback. Points are awarded based on correct answers.

Photo Courtesy the Exploratorium.

These custom 55" 4K multitouch tables are packed up and ready to go on their way to the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. They will be a part of the museum's renovation, which will offer 60 percent more gallery space along with a more participatory museum experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com

Ideum demonstrated our new 65" 4K projected-capacitive multitouch table as well as a Presenter 42 in our booth at MW 2016. We also showed museum projects we partnered on with Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Minnesota Historical Society, Science World Vancouver, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

These custom 84" and 55" 4K multitouch tables crated and ready to go to the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum. They will be a part of The New Cooper-Hewitt Experience which will offer 60 percent more gallery space along with a more participatory museum experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and

www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Recently, Ideum collaborated with Exploratorium’s Global Studios on a project drawing us outside of the realm of multitouch table development. We built a series of highly customized interactives for a museum in Turkey.

In "Star Colors," visitors play a game to learn about star identification. At the heart of the activity are 3 prop “telescopes” through which visitors view star types and their corresponding spectral patterns.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum worked with the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum to create these custom, 84" 4K multitouch tables. Each system is turnkey and the pedestal and monitor housing is made out of aluminum. The tables have projected capacitive touch technology and have built NFC stations, allowing visitors to "check in" with a specialized stylus pen. Using NFC technology allows visitors to personalize and customize their museum experience.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum builds our ruggedized aluminum multitouch tables on-site in our Corrales studio. Our experienced staff handles all aspects from construction to tech support. Ideum worked with the Cooper-Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum to create these 84" 4K multitouch tables for The New Cooper Hewitt Experience, open to the public on December 12, 2014.

Learn more at www.ideum.com and www.cooperhewitt.org/new-experience

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Discussing "leveling up" in the gamified Space Guard Academy exhibition.

Ideum is working with Lowell Observatory on an upcoming exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum is developing 5 connected interactives as well as a student registration station and a system to track student scores and ranks. Look for more information and pictures in the near future. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

In the Space Guard Academy, visitors will be tracked via student IDs, and their scores will increase as they participate and improve in the various activities.

Ideum is working with Lowell Observatory on an upcoming exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum is developing 5 connected interactives as well as a student registration station and a system to track student scores and ranks. Look for more information and pictures in the near future. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.

Ideum collaborated with Lowell Observatory on an exhibition all about asteroid science. The entire exhibition is a fictional school, Space Guard Academy, where cadets learn all about asteroids and "rank up" as they participate in different interactive learning modules.

Ideum developed 5 connected interactives, as well as a student registration station, a system to track student scores and ranks, and a "hall of fame" displaying the pictures of recent graduates. To learn more about Ideum's Creative Services, visit our website.