On Tuesday, I hunted down and explored the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art (otherwise known as MCA). I had specifically planned to visit the museum on this day because admission to the museum is completely free on Tuesdays, and I’m grateful to MCA for making this free-day possible.

Photogophobia

In fact, I think I may have felt some regret about this museum if I had paid for admission since, on the whole, the museum is quite a photogophobic (foh-tahg-goh-foh-bick) environment. Yes, I have just invented this word because, after some research, I could not find a suitable word to describe the irrational fear of photography that this museum seemed to have. And as a result, my photography of this museum is, sadly, quite limited.

Ordinary to Extraordinary

Much of the art in this museum was eye-grabbing and playful in nature, especially the Jeff Koons exhibit. I had come at an especially rare time since this was Koons’ first exhibit at MCA in over 10 years. Koons, if you haven’t heard of him, is one of the more well-known artists of the twentieth century. Francesco Bonami, an internationally known curator, writer and critic, has praised Jeff Koons for “embracing the mundane way of life and giving it back to us transformed,” and I have to agree. Much of Koons’ work seemed to take ordinary objects and somehow make them extra-ordinary.

Seriously, would you blame him?

The exhibit contained an impressive array of his work, featuring works from all his series, including Michael Jackson and Bubbles and the possibly more famous Rabbit. A note to those with children though: be advised that there are rather explicit images behind a back wall. There is a notice about this, but you should probably be careful not to let your child wander alone if you’re concerned about this sort of thing. Be advised.

A curious thing I noticed while researching is that there are many pictures of Koons’ famous balloon dog sculpture, and each photo has a different colored dog, sometimes electric pink, bright blue, or neon orange. Call it a blasphemous question, but I wonder: is it possible he’s only made one balloon dog and simply repaints it different colors for different exhibitions?

How many dogs would Koons really have time to make? After seeing the dog in person, I was amazed at the level of fit and finish Koons was able to achieve on the balloon dog’s huge surface. Due to the immense size of these sculptures, I wouldn’t blame him if he changed the paint instead of creating an entirely new aluminum work every time. Would you?

We’ve Entered A New Era

But Koons’ art wasn’t the only art featured in the museum. Many other strange and wonderful creations were to be found on the 2nd floor. Unfortunately, one of the guards regarded me taking a picture with the same severity as if I’d tried to take one of the pieces of art itself, despite the fact that there were no anti-photography notices nearby. Any explanation I could give about the strange and wonderful creations would pale in comparison to any photo I would have been able to show you. I’m sorry, dear reader, I tried. I realize that some artists are extremely possessive about who photographs their work, but in this era of ubiquitous digital photography, it becomes more and more apparent that this policy of “no photos” is fear-based and impractical in the modern age. It’s time to drop fear-based attitudes and embrace sharing and open communication. How can a man who creates such a large blue heart, a universal symbol of love, subscribe to such a fear-based paradigm?

Still Recommended

Despite the terribly bored security guards and disappointingly photogophobic attitude of the institution, I did enjoy this museum, but keep in mind that Koons’ work will most likely not be present when you visit since his work was a temporary exhibit. However, you are sure to see art at the Museum of Contemporary Art that you wouldn’t see anywhere else. I recommend you check it out, but save some money and visit on a Tuesday.

Photos from this trip are in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as widescreen desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440).

In downtown Chicago’s Millennium Park, just a short walk west from The Bean (Cloud Gate) structure, there is a truly marvelous fountain.

I had just returned from Navy Pier and was looking forward to something a bit more exciting and enjoyable than what I’d just seen, and thankfully this is exactly what I found. I’d heard vague mentionings of “a fountain with faces” days before, but this fountain turned out to be much bigger than I expected. When I arrived at the Crown Fountain, I was greeted by two 15 meter tall glass brick towers with a long reflecting pool between them. These were not ordinary towers, however. They glowed, they smiled, and they spouted water.

A Fountain that Unites the People

Dozens of children were playing in the fountain. In fact, the Crown Fountain brought together people of all skin colors, and seeing a rainbow of skin colors was a rather beautiful sight, (even though the blue people didn’t show up… again).

Just 50 years ago, it would have been taboo for these children, whose ancestors came from different continents, to play together without a second thought as they were on that day. I’m exceedingly pleased to see that race continues to be less and less problematic in the 21st century.

The Clever Crown Family

The Crown Fountain was designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa. It works by using panels of light-emitting diodes to display digital video of Chicago Residents. The Crown family, who donated most of the $17 million to build the fountain, were especially proactive in the fountain’s construction. They acted independently of Millennium Park officials and conducted independent research of water technologies, held their own design contest, and continued to participate during the construction phase of the fountain.

Out of three finalists, Jaume Plensa won the commission to design the fountain, and I’m sure the kids are glad he did. While Maya Lin’s horizontal fountain design was probably excellent, and Robert Venturi’s 46 meter tall fountain design was monumental — neither of these ideas had the potential for as much interaction, accessibility, and pure fun of Plensa’s interactive video fountain.

Wandering around Downtown Chicago

After observing the fountain for some time, I felt the need to explore the city further and started heading north. As I’ve mentioned before, wandering is a valuable tool in the traveller’s arsenal because it allows spontaneity to enter into the trip and always produces surprises. Like a pigeon snacking on Doritos, for instance.

Coincidentally, I ended up walking near the Trump Tower, which was still in construction, and this gave me an excellent opportunity to make a decent photograph of the building. When I post-processed my photos of the day, I was delighted to see that the photo works quite well in a sepia tone.

In my exploration of the northern parts of downtown Chicago, I also came across a service of some nostalgia: a horse coach service. Drinking troughs for the horses were even built above the sidewalk (with an attached drinking fountain for humans, of course). Seeing horses and cars together on the same road seemed slightly absurd — yet logical at the same time.

Soon after, I found myself on East Chestnut Street again and took that opportunity to photograph the John Hancock Center towering above me. Though the photo looks as though I may have composed it deliberately, I assure you its visual balance is completely accidental.

By this time, I began to get thirsty and remembered there was a McDonald’s nearby. I’m not a fan of McDonald’s “food” at all, so I walked in and ordered the only healthy item on the menu: water. I even took a picture of it, though I may have been suffering from dehydration-induced delirium. 😉

How Powerful is Wandering?

Overall, Monday the 18th turned out to be an excellent time to get my bearings and provided a useful mental map that I used for the rest of my time in Chicago. Turns out that wandering is also a good way to learn a new area. Could the mere practice of wandering be the mind’s natural way to create a mental map of a new place?

Photos from this trip are in the Crown Fountain – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as widescreen desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440).