Revisiting ‘The Visitors’: An oral history of Ragnar Kjartansson’s multimedia masterpiece - Washington Post

IN THE SUMMER OF 2012, THE ARTIST RAGNAR KJARTANSSON GATHERED A GROUP OF MUSICIANS AT ROKEBY, A HISTORIC ESTATE IN THE HUDSON VALLEY. BY THE END OF THE WEEK, THEY HAD CREATED A MULTISCREEN VIDEO INSTALLATION THAT HAS BEEN ACCLAIMED AS ONE OF THE DEFINING WORKS OF OUR TIME. TO EXPERIENCE IT, YOU ENTER A DARKENED GALLERY WITH NINE LARGE SCREENS. EIGHT OF THEM SHOW ROOMS AT ROKEBY, WHERE THE MUSICIANS, CONNECTED ONLY BY HEADPHONES, PLAY AN HOUR-LONG SONG IN UNISON. THIS IS ... 0 It was hailed as a masterpiece the moment it appeared, back in 2012. Seven years later, the Guardian made it No. 1 on a list of the 25 best artworks of the 21st century. But the past 18 months have made Ragnar Kjartansson’s video installation “The Visitors” more than just great; they have recast the work as a mirror for our current moment, making it seem breathtakingly prescient. Once in a while it happens that way: Certain artworks just rhyme with the zeitgeist. Manet’s “Olympia.” Picasso’s “Guernica.” Andy Warho

IN THE SUMMER OF 2012, THE ARTIST RAGNAR KJARTANSSON GATHERED A GROUP OF MUSICIANS AT ROKEBY, A HISTORIC ESTATE IN THE HUDSON VALLEY. BY THE END OF THE WEEK, THEY HAD CREATED A MULTISCREEN VIDEO INSTALLATION THAT HAS BEEN ACCLAIMED AS ONE OF THE DEFINING WORKS OF OUR TIME. TO EXPERIENCE IT, YOU ENTER A DARKENED GALLERY WITH NINE LARGE SCREENS. EIGHT OF THEM SHOW ROOMS AT ROKEBY, WHERE THE MUSICIANS, CONNECTED ONLY BY HEADPHONES, PLAY AN HOUR-LONG SONG IN UNISON. THIS IS ... 0 It was hailed as a masterpiece the moment it appeared, back in 2012. Seven years later, the Guardian made it No. 1 on a