Writing Prompts/Arts/ Artists/Chicago
One Of A Kind Arts In Chicago
Public arts of Chicago/ A Taste For Life Weekend Challenge: #24
Winter may not be the ideal time to visit Chicago. But I can say that winter was the right time for me to be there. I visited Chicago with only museums in my mind. But serendipity led me to appreciate, embrace, and be awed by five of the numerous public arts in the city.
1. Crown Fountain
Located in Millennium Park, this public art was designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa in 2004.
The fountain is composed of black granite reflecting a pool placed between a pair of glass brick towers. Each tower displays the faces of 1000 everyday Chicagoans who were chosen from volunteers of different community groups.
From May to October, each of the mouths of the faces spits water like a fountain. This concept indicates the coexistence that should exist between human beings and nature. As they are positioned facing each other, emphasized the reality of peace when people communicate and genuinely care about each other.
By using faces, he can represent the diversity of the city both in ethnicity and age.
On the 10th anniversary of the Millennium Park, artist Jaume Plensa installed 4 new figures in addition to the 1000 faces in the Crown Fountain.
2. Looking Into My Dreams, Awilda
The 39-foot tall sculpture is composed of resin and marble dust, with metal support externally and fiberglass internally. From 2014, it stayed for two years in Chicago’s Millennium Park.
Plensa named the white head figure Awilda. Based on a real person, a Dominican girl who came to Spain with her mother. He took her portrait with a laser scanner.
Awilda means untamed and is historically associated with a legend about a Scandinavian princess who had chosen to become a pirate rather than be forced to marriage.
The other three head sculptures are named Paula, Laura and Inez. They portray the heads of girls between the ages of 8 and 15 with eyes closed and heads stretched vertically to make their features slightly distorted.
Being elongated, they became closer to the sky and closer to the deities spiritually. Plensa said that this is the moment when the girls are not kids anymore but they are not yet women. They have this kind of strange interior beauty that is not yet formed on the outside.
These sculptures were motivated by his profound appreciation of the feminine, the spirit of creation, and nurture.
He added…. “Man, in a funny way, is more of an accident, but still.” Do you agree?
Plensa wanted to make the people dream, that’s why Awilda is in a dream-like setting. Awilda encourages every viewer to close their eyes and see within. To withdraw themselves from the world and connect to their inner self.
3. Agora Big Feet
Designed by Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz, this installation of 106 headless and armless iron sculptures can be found in Grant Park.
The headless figures relate to the bustling and fast-paced busiest street of Chicago which is Michigan Avenue. They are stationary but are posed in different directions, symbolizing people going everywhere and nowhere at once.
Agora is the Greek word for meeting place. My photo is blurry. I have to use the one below.
Abakanowicz said that her art illustrates her fear of crowds, which she described as brainless organisms acting on command, worshipping on command, and hating on command.
When asked about her opinion on people who are frightened by her work, she replied…”Every piece is about the many different problems we feel and don’t want to talk about.”
4. The Cloud Gate
Popularly called The Bean, was designed by Indian-born British artist Anish Kapoor and was completed on 2006. The Cloud Gate became Chicago’s icon.
It was built as an interactive sculpture where visitors can touch, observe their reflections and walk through the art. The reflection changes as you change your position.
Three-quarters of its external surface reflects the sky and it is a type of gate that helps bridge the space between the sky and the viewer.( See photo above)
5. The Forever Marilyn
The Marilyn Monroe gigantic statue with her iconic pose from the 1955 film The Seven-Year- Itch, was created by American artist Seward Johnson.
In May 2012, it left Chicago for good. It gave the citizens of Chicago a bad taste more than excitement. Critics labeled it as sexist and creepy. Richard Roeper, a columnist had said…”It brought out the worst instinct of passers-by. Even worse than the statue itself is the photo-op behavior it inspires.”
Awesome and intriguing arts by amazing artists, I should say. Chicago has still lots of arts to offer.
Sources:
www.chicagotribune.com
www.miaminewtimes.com
publicdelivery.org
instituteofpublicart.org
en.m.wikipedia.com
huffpost.com
