Photo by lonny.gomes.

After two local artists were detained and “banned” from the Smithsonian museums for screening a recently censored video on an iPad in the lobby of the National Portrait Gallery, they’re planning more long-term methods to get the artwork shown and provide some public shaming while they’re at it. Mike Blasenstein and Michael Dax Iacovone are now working to obtain permits for a temporary structure to be erected outside the NPG which will screen David Wojnarowicz’s A Fire in my Belly through next February – the run of the exhibit Hide/Seek, from which is was removed.

Since Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough ordered A Fire in my Belly to be taken down last week after a conservative website complained its imagery was anti-Christian, artists and curators have stepped up to make it available in a few places: Transformer Gallery immediately began screening a 4-minute clip before obtaining the entire 30-minute piece from the artist’s estate, artist Adrian Parsons stood on a ladder to screen a clip on the side of the NPG and museums around the country have also shown the video in reaction to the Smithsonian’s decision.

Just this morning, NPG commissioner James T. Bartlett has resigned in protest, reports Modern Art Notes.

I spoke with Iacovone about their project, how it contributes to the controversy and how they plan to execute it. [Full disclosure: I recently worked with Iacovone on a photography exhibit.]

Now that Wojnarowicz’s video, or at least parts of it, are all over the place — Transformer, even YouTube — what’s your goal in having this artspace?

The goal is two-fold: One, to bring the art as physically close to the Hide/Seek exhibit as possible, because the goal of the Catholic League and other anti-gay politicians are to make it as difficult as possible for people visiting this exhibit to see this art. We want to make it as easy as possible. And two, to be a visible monument against the Smithsonian’s censorship.