Choose Your Own Adventure

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum

When: closing October 14, 2019

David Levinthal photographs toy figurines.  It's as simple as that.  He photographs sports figures (like Eddie Matthews of the Milwaukee Braves, pictured here), Wild West figures, Barbie dolls and figures from American history.  He constructs tableaux with them and then photographs them, blurring the images to make them more lifelike.

Describing the show this way makes it seem silly; who want to see pictures of someone's toys?  Levinthal himself said, "There's less in my work than meets the eye."  And that's where you, the viewer, come in.  You construct the narrative around the photographs, just as children do with their own toys.

There's something both odd and appealing about this show; it's an invitation to remember the past and stories about the past and also to examine how much truth there is in those memories and stories.

Verdict: This large show is a sample of a gift of Levinthal's works that were recently donated to the museum; one hopes this is not the last display of his work we will see.

Dinosaurs Outside the new Fossil Hall

Where: Natural History Museum

When: closing September 29, 2019

True confession: I've not yet been to the new Fossil Hall at the Natural History Museum;  I go to see things that have impending closing dates, and presumably the new hall will be with us for quite some time.  Maybe that's something my niece and I could go see when she has a day off from school...

I did get to see some dinosaurs at Natural History this week though.  The exhibit that served as a "dinosaur place holder" while the new Hall was under construction is now closing, so I went to see that.  Called "The Last American Dinosaur," it's quite well done.  It provides lots of information, presented in an easy-to-understand style.  I especially liked the explanation of the difference between an actual fossil, a scientifically accurate cast, and a fake.

I also enjoyed the information about the digs that yield the fossils and the way that scientists preserve what they find and transport it back to the museum.  The Hell Creek Formation, which covers parts of Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota, is full of fossils - sort of a paleontologist's playground.  It's a lot of work to travel out there, find useful specimens, wrap them up so they don't get damaged and get everything and everyone back to DC.

The exhibit also included information on the 5th great extinction - the one that killed the dinosaurs.  An asteroid hit the earth, which set off a chain reaction of terrible events that resulted in the death of all non-avian dinosaurs.  So, every time you see a bird, you're actually seeing a dinosaur.  And mass extinctions are bad for the species that die off, obviously, but they're good for new species that can arise from the ashes.  Like mammals.

Verdict: The new fossil hall is getting all the press, but this exhibit is worth a look.  And I really wish the museum would have returned to the original name for the dinosaur display: the Hall of Extinct Monsters.

Fireworks in the Library

Where: National Gallery of Art Library, East Building

When:  closed September 6, 2019

This library show is a tribute to fireworks and festivals throughout Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries.  Although all the books are in black and white, one feels as if one can see the vibrant pyrotechnics and feel the excitement as one looks at the display.  I particularly enjoyed seeing John Bate's instructions for how to make a flying dragon.

Verdict: Hope you had a chance to see this small exhibit - more fun than the usual offering.

Architects' Greatest Crime

Where: Hirshhorn Museum

When: closing September 8, 2019

This somber display closes tomorrow, so if you want to see it, you'll need to hurry.  It's contained inside the "What Absence is Made Of" show on the 2nd floor, so you'll need to walk through some nonsense to see it, I'm afraid.  It's worth it, though, so make the effort.

It's a visual installation that presents the evidence collected to prove that Auschwitz was a mechanism for mass murder.  This was not merely a camp to hold people against their will (although that would be bad enough); this was a place designed by architects to end people's lives in as efficient a way as possible.

The entire installation is white, which I found made it hard to understand the documents that line the room.  What really made the piece real to me was the video at the end that explains the decisions the architects made to ensure as many people were killed in as short a time as possible.

Verdict: In a time when Holocaust denial is making a comeback, this is an important statement of facts.