MGMT have released 11-11-11, an hour long music project created for the 2011 Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum’s Maurizio Cattelan retrospective is out today. In the spring of 2011, MGMT was approached by the New York museum to create a wholly unique live music experience in conjunction with Cattelan’s exhibit All, which opened that autumn. The group performed the original music at the Nov. 10, 2011 private opening, and again the following night for the public debut. Titled 11-11-11 in honor of that date is available to purchase or stream.

At the time, the duo of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser approached the music as a reaction to Cattelan’s art, 130 pieces of which were suspended en masse from the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Guggenheim rotunda in a provocative, site-specific installation. With the collection on view from the rotunda floor and from varying heights of the museum ramps, the exhibition offered a dramatic setting for guests.

“We’re creating a musical experience that works for the building and for the construction and presentation of the Cattelan exhibit,” MGMT said at the time. “It’s an art exhibit done in a completely original way, so it deserves music which is completely original.”

MGMT’s live production featured a variety of LED lighting strips (a technology that was cutting edge at the time) lining the entire legendary spiral to the top of the museum. The installation was the first time the Guggenheim had ever allowed art to be suspended from the ceiling. MGMT’s performance was also the first time the museum allowed an event like this to take place amid the inner ring of the spiral.

Formed in 2002, MGMT released their influential, Grammy-nominated, 2007 debut album Oracular Spectacular, followed by 2010’s Congratulations and 2013’s self-titled album MGMT. MGMT most recent album release was the critically lauded 2018 album Little Dark Age, featuring “Me and Michael”, “When You Die” and the album’s title track.

Purchase 11-11-11 by MGMT HERE