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Saturday
Their subject matter may vary from bulldozers to dancers, but the short films in German-born artist Oliver Herring’s “Basic” series are united by their love of time-manipulation. Street compresses the moves of five performers, who take simple hops from small boxes placed in the middle of a slow street, into a minute and change—despite a clear shift from daylight to darkness. By reversing footage of a man throwing wads of cash into the air in a cramped kitchen, Money achieves a dreamlike effect, with bills floating and twinkling in the air. Even Trucks, which simply speeds up footage of dump trucks and bulldozers, makes the machines’ unexplained project—laying out a giant patch of dirt in an unidentified arena—look something like a game in a sandbox. If it sounds like a lot to take in, it’s not: The six “Basic” films showing at the Hirshhorn can be digested in a little more than 20 minutes. The films show from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily to Sunday, July 2, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, 7th Street & Independence Avenue SW. Free. (202) 633-1000. (Joe Dempsey)