Fotos

I was in Chicago, in October of 2004, for the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, and walked across the river (well, okay, across a bridge over the river) to Millenium Park. While I was there, I took a picture of a stainless steel sculpture called "Cloud Gate" by Anish Kapoor. Because of its shape (and the fact that Kapoor wouldn't tell anyone the name until its official unveiling) Chicagoans started calling it "The Bean". Well, it looks like one. If I had tried to take the picture a few months later, I might be in the middle of a controversy (see below).

Here's some info from the Millenium Park website.

"A major feature of Millennium Park is Cloud Gate, the 110-ton elliptical sculpture designed by the celebrated British artist Anish Kapoor, one of the most prolific and respected sculptors in the world.

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."

http://www.millenniumpark.org/sbcplaza.htm

Controversy:
It seems that the artist has decided that because it's a copyrighted work, even though it's on display in an open public space, no one should be allowed to take photographs of it without specific permission from him. How does everyone feel about that? Are public works public or private?

http://www.boingboing.net/2005/02/06/chicagos_public_scul.html

Post-processing: Not much was done. It was a nice, brightly-lit day. I adjusted the levels a little (as I almost always do), sharpened the image, and reduced the size before uploading.