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In
July of 2004 a major art exhibit, which has been lightheartedly
nicknamed “The Bean” while awaiting the
official titling by its artist Anish Kapoor, was unveiled
in the heart of Chicago. The exhibit, which was constructed
under the protective cover of a steel-framed fabric
shelter provided by Big Top Manufacturing, Inc, is a
central outdoor art exhibit in Chicago’s Millennium
Park. When visitors to the park pass underneath the
structure at its central point, they are enveloped into
the other images created by the park surroundings. According
to Chicago Tribune art critic, Alan Artner, “more
than 100 curved stainless-steel plates are being assembled
to create what will become a three-dimensional mirror
of land, water, visitors, and sky, as well as a kind
of portal." This art exhibit is the largest outdoor
art piece made in Chicago since Lorado Taft’s
“Fountain of Time,” which was created in
the 1920s at the Midway Plaisance. “The Bean”
was originally projected in 1999 to cost around six
million dollars. However, it is now estimated to have
cost approximately ten million dollars with much of
that money provided by donors.
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| Chicago,
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| Chicago,
IL |
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| Chicago,
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The artistic designer of the piece, Anish Kapoor, was
chosen from twenty different outdoor art designers from
around the world to design a piece that would fit the
desires of the Art Institute and the Museum of Contemporary
Art. Kapoor wanted to “make a work that would
deal with the incredible skyline of Chicago and the
open sky and the lake but then also be a kind of gate.”
The designer of “The Bean” has designed
outdoor art in Canada, Japan, and England. The exhibit
of Nottingham, England is like the Chicago piece in
that it is a concave mirror which brings the sites of
the sky down to the ground. The Chicago piece will also
bring those viewing it closer to the skyline as well
as the surrounding body of water.
The art exhibit was completed under the cover of a 68’
x 100’ x 58’ Big Top Structure to shield
the exhibit construction from weather and passersby,
until it was finally unveiled to Chicago and the world.
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