Forever A Fangirl

'Cloud Gate' by Anish Kapoor a/k/a Chicago's Jelly Bean (PHOTO) #cloudgate #chicago #repost

Please see my update on Cloud Gate.

Please see the most recent update with photos of the finished Cloud Gate and more.                           

Five years in the planning, London-based artist Anish Kapoor brings Chicago's brand new Millennium Park, it's aesthetic centrepiece.

This thing is so, so, so coooool!
You must experience it to believe it. People smiling, puzzling, exclaiming--it provoked all kinds of response--but I heard not a negative word about it.
But it's not finished! It's to be covered up again after one week on view--until November--to finish the seams.
Can't wait until it "opens" permanently.Total fun-ness and right across the street from the Art Institute!

Heading Into "The Belly" Of The Beast

Find my spouse and kid (or not). I'm taking the shot.
A  major feature of Millennium Park is the 110-ton elliptical sculpture designed by the celebrated British artist Anish Kapoor, one of the most prolific and respected sculptors in the world. "Cloud Gate," the monumental sculpture located on SBC Plaza was named by the artist on June 29 when the final panel of the ellptical sculpture was installed.

The sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly-polished stainless steel "plates" that create an elliptically-arched, highly reflective work with Chicago's skyline and Millennium Park itself as a dramatic backdrop. Visitors will be able to fully experience the majestic nature of the work by literally walking through and around, as it was designed for public interaction. Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high.

Outside the bean. Find me!

Anish Kapoor revealed his chosen title for the elliptical stainless steel sculpture as Cloud Gate. As is his custom, Kapoor waited until the sculpture was fully assembled to reveal its name. Now on view, the polishing of Cloud Gate will be complete by the fall.

"What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline," says Kapoor. "So everything that’s white in this model would be ground, earth, and everything that isn’t white would be sky, so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work.

Inside ~ "The Belly Button"
I'm there. I'm wearing a short, white skirt and gray short sleeve v-neck top, if that helps.

"And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does in a way the same thing to one’s reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around.

"It's a multiple-layered experience of a kind of personal space that's opened up in the stone and the city space that's reflected on the exterior."

(the artist)

Walking The Salt Creek Trail

We--the spouse, the kid, the dog, and I-- took a nice walk after dinner tonight down through the woods on the newish bike/walking trail next to Salt Creek. I was hoping for some good photos but my game is really off.

Pond begins Salt Creek Trail~

Prior Post On Salt Creek Trail w/ more photos

New Trail On Salt Creek, Cook County w/photos (2006)

Thank goodness we are heading in to the city tomorrow afternoon. It's been free museum week and though we'll only be able to stay for an hour or so at the Adler Planetarium (if all goes as planned) we'll then head over to Millennium Park so I can try to get some sunset shots near Anish Kapoor's Outdoor art sculpture, Cloud Gate .                      

Cloud Gate~

The Art Institute is right across the street from the park and it's free and open 'till 9 p.m. on Thurs & Fridays so I'm hoping to have the boys chill out at Crown Fountain (below) while I get a glimpse of the photographic exhibit, The Earth As It Was. Not that I don't enjoy Crown Fountain but I'm jonesing for some time at the Art Institute and both my spouse and son want little-to-nothing to do with it. Both guys are very much left-brain thinkers.

         

Crown Fountain~ Opening Weekend (2004)

Spouse is a good shot (technically, he's far better than me) so we are bringing both the Powershot 630 and the Nikon D-70. I just made notes of some of the possibly better spots to shoot including the North Terrace at the Adler Planertarium so we shall see what turns up.

And I just realized that tomorrow is the June/Summer Solstice and the Planetarium will probably be packed. Spouse is going to think I meant to do this. :p  I'm gonna keep a positive attitude though as generally once I get past the traffic getting in to Chicago, I have no problem getting around and dealing with whatever. And I always have fun.

Always.  :)

              Crown Fountain~                

Sky Above Clouds IV, 1965/Music Pink & Blue II

Music Pink & Blue II --the softer side of O'Keeffe

Georgia O’Keeffe was the first woman artist that I really took to. Before I took college Art Appreciation and before I saw her stuff at the Art Institute in Chicago and certainly before I made the "pilgrimage" to outside of Taos, New Mexico to visit the one and only Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, I saw her work on a junior high school class trip to MoMA in New York City. Her paintings have an almost clinical sensuality about them that intrigued me.

The painting above however was something I stumbled across at work yesterday. It  sold for seven dollars (after my volunteer 30% discount) as the fully intact and sturdy blue metal frame had some minor scratches on one edge. It's about 4 feet across so it's taking up a large swath of the living room wall but I'm not sure if I really dig it. I know it's okay. And it's not like her extreme animal bones stuff--which are not my favourites, either. I'll just have to keep an eye on it before I come to a decision. :)

LINK

Artist Georgia O’Keeffe lived to be almost 100 years old. She grew up in the wide open spaces of the Wisconsin prairies, but as an adult, Georgia worked in crowded New York City. In her later life, she returned to open spaces, this time in New Mexico, where she painted flowers and bones from the desert.

In her 70s, O’Keeffe took her first trip by airplane. She was fascinated by the extraordinary view of the earth with the clouds below her. She made Sky Above Clouds IV after this flight. The painting is 24 feet wide by 8 feet tall. To make the painting, she stretched the canvas across the end of her double garage and had to climb a ladder to reach the top.

Bear Down A Little Harder

Bear Down Chicago Bears

Lyrics: Al Hoffman, 1941

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation,
With your T formation.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.

You're the pride and joy,
of all Illinois.

Chicago Bears, Bear Down!

 

Chicago Bears fight song~ Bear Down Chicago Bears

By Josh Noel Tribune staff reporter
Published January 30, 2007, 11:40 AM CST

The Art Institute's bronzed lions will have to wait one more day to show their Chicago Bears pride.

The creatures flanking the museum's Michigan Avenue entrance were to be crowned this morning with Bears helmets, but severe cold led to a helmet cracking as it was being lowered onto one of the animals, museum officials said.

Photo gallery


Bears helmets for lions

Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune

I hope they get the helmets up by Super Bowl Sunday.  I'm headed out to Evanston on Sunday and want to get photos of the regal Lions wearing silly hats. :)

GO BEARS!!!!