Max Beckmann Lecture

Frontier Spirit: Art in the Public Sphere

Join internationally acclaimed artist Doug Aitken on a compelling audiovisual journey through his multidisciplinary practice that transcends the traditional boundaries of art. In this presentation, Aitken discusses a selection of his groundbreaking  projects that extend beyond traditional gallery and exhibition spaces – from Sleepwalkers (2007), which transformed MoMA’s façade into a cinematic dreamscape, to Mirage (2017), a mirror-house that blends into and refracts the serene desert and mountain landscapes around it, to Underwater Pavilions (2016-17), living sculptures submerged beneath the ocean’s surface off the coast of California’s Catalina Island. Aitken will also reflect on large-scale, participatory works such as Station to Station (2013), a traveling cultural festival set aboard a cross-country train, and New Horizon (2019), a floating installation in the form of a hot air balloon—culminating in his most recent collaborative composition, Lightscape (2024). Through film, architecture, performance, and sound, Aitken invites audiences to experience new forms of connection and collective presence beyond the gallery walls.