The Bean!: Ryan

Jeromie and I got a chance to be major tourists and take photos with sculptor Anish Kappor's Cloud Gate (nicknamed The Bean) in Millennium Park. It was definitely on my list of must sees while I was here. It was only a couple blocks away from our hotel, luckily.

Chicago's beautiful towering buildings are even more incredible as warped organic curves in Cloud Gate's reflection. We approached the massive piece of art while watching our doubles on the surface, the cityscape wrapped around behind us.


After Gawking at the Bean, we headed over to the Art Institute of Chicago (our CAA IDs got us in for free), where we saw the artworks we had only seen projected in a dark art history class. The most famous piece was of course (because of art historical and pop culture recognition) A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte painted by Georges-Pierre Seurat. Picasso, Van Gogh, Warhol, and all the greats were also present of course, but
what really got my attention more than the Paintings were some of the more recent new media works



Being Not Truthful Always worked Against Me
by Ralph Ammer, 2006

An interactive projection showing an animated spider web that attachs to you as you walk past it. I love this piece because it is an example of how digital art using interactive programming makes people want to move around and be part of art, and make stupid gestures while strangers watch them.