Monday Morning Mirth
Never before could one say beauty is in the eye of the beholder with more certainty than THIS summer when the annual public art project landed in a downtown square on State St.
It is titled: EYE.
Aye, that’s about it. But wait. There is more. Accompanying the orb along the main downtown high street there are “156 street banners revealing a bold red cardinal – the state bird – in flight against a bright blue sky, unfolding like a “flip book” on State Street lamp posts north from Congress Parkway to Wacker Drive. KIDS (don’t try this at home): I attemped to get the full-effect of the flip-book while driving but there was (and always is) Too Much Traffic to do anything but basically avoid rear-ending the multitude of cars in front of me in the perpetual stop-and-go gridlock.
Here, in the south area of the Loop, in a little park where usually there are only sidewalk sleepers and lots of pigeons, suddenly the World has arrived and it’s packing cameras…
Thumbs Up or Down on Public Art, dear readers?
Thumbs up on public art! YAY for public art! The eyeball is kind of neat, whatever else I might say about it. I don’t quite get the relationship between the cardinal banners (which I’d like to see!) and the giant eyeball, but the public art is one of my favorite aspects of Chicago. Two thumbs up!
I love public art although I don’t always love the public art. Does that make sense? Holland had painted pigs that were kind of cool one year. And Grand Rapids has a fellow who organizes all kinds of events – zombie walks, paper airplane launches from the tops of buildings, sidewalk chalk art. Those are also pretty cool!
Public art is one of the things I so love about the Windy City. This eyeball is pretty cool, weird but cool. As to the relationship between the eye and the “flip-book” cardinals — flip books are totally visual, and participatory. Maybe the big Eye is viewing the flip-book carcinals?
Thumbs up. Or…I’ll say aye .
Seriously this is a little creepy but public art is always a good. Love the flip book bird concept, too.
I was riding the El at night and rounded a corner and came face to face with THE EYE! It was hilarious and awesome and a total surprise.
love public art! i was so excited by the agora installation that’s at roosevelt and michigan. the birds can’t really work in any functional way because of the traffic — and the part where you try not to run your car into something while looking at bird things and driving at the same time (traffic or not) — but it’s a fun idea. the eye’s a little weird, but the mere fact that it has people stopping, looking, and talking means it’s successful in some way, i think.
I love it. We finally have some in my small berg, and it’s so much fun to have something to talk about on our ride to the grocery store.
I love public art. The eye is every interesting but the veins in the white is a bit creepy.
Personally I love public art. I don’t always “get it”, but I almost always love the concept because it keeps things fresh and interesting. I’m just outside Vancouver BC, and we get some great art here, not just in the city but often set up on beaches or in some of the surrounding botanical gardens.
The eye is cool, and the cardinals “flip book” idea sounds very interesting!
Thumbs way up for public art! I don’t always get it, but I always appreciate it. Yeah, an eyeball is a bit weird and creepy, but it’s getting people to actually stop and look at the world around them.