Interactive art in Chicago’s Millenium Park
Mark K July 18th, 2008
These pictures were all taken in Chicago’s Millenium Park. The first one is called “Cloud Gate”, but is commonly referred to as “The Bean”. It was inspired by a drop of liquid mercury and is made of shiny stainless steel which reflects everything around it. The picture was taken from underneath, looking upward. At first it struck me as kind of a corny gimmick, but then when you see the kind of excitement and fun it produces, it’s hard to imagine that a traditional statue would encourage this kind of interaction.
The next two pictures are of the Crown Fountain. There is a giant wall at each end of a wading pool and each of them projects a face of a Chicago resident. As you can see in the two photos, the face changes expressions. From time to time, water spurts out of the mouth – which was modeled after gargoyles. There were throngs of school-age kids playing in the water and standing next to the walls where the water was dripping down on their heads. When the water would spurt from the mouths, you could hear the screaming as people rushed to get drenched.
I could imagine the artists of these sculptures watching with a great deal of satisfaction as they witnessed the excitement and fun that these works have encouraged.
- wandering
- Comments(1)
Mark, loved your photos and description of art in Chicago. I recently went to the Chihuly exhibit at the de Young museum in San Francisco with English friends and their two teenage sons. It was remarkable to see how Chihuly’s immense glass sculptures–– colorful, organic, wild–– turned these taciturn adolescents into avid art critics. Anyone interested in reading my whole article can go to: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs009/1101719606728/archive/1102193166305.html