Doug Aitken : sleepwalkers /

This exhibition by internationally recognized installation and video artist Aitken (b. 1968) occurred in New York City on the outside of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) each night from January 16-February 12, 2007. This joint project of MoMA and Creative Time featured five huge video projections depicting simultaneous narratives of nighttime New York City dwellers going about their routines. Pensive and isolated, the action on all screens occasionally collided in synchronous action. Since the progression of narratives rotated on the screens, a viewer could stand in one place and see all the stories or move about freely as desired. Temporary and ephemeral, the project is explored here and made more concrete. The book does well in letting the reader feel the pulse of the project without documenting it outright. An informative essay by Klaus Biesenbach (chief curator, department of media, MoMA) discusses "Sleepwalkers" within the context of Aitken's work and explores his creative evolution toward such a project. The book then delves into the experience in more depth, along with wonderful pages depicting the piling up and repetition of phrases paired with imagery, and presents an interview with the artist. Sumptuous images from Aitken's oeuvre inform the text throughout. Recommended for large academic and public media art collections.-Debora Miller, Minneapolis (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.