Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park, Chicago. The sculpture is shaped like an ellipse, and its legume-like appearance has caused it to be nicknamed “The Bean”. It is made of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates, and stands at 33 feet high, 66 feet long, and 42 feet wide, weighing 110 tons.
From a distance it could be mistaken for a huge drop of mercury, while up close its highly reflective surface captures and transforms the skyline, the downtown cityscape and even the passers-by into a wonderfully warped new vista. The artist, Anish Kapoor, has referred to the sculpture as “a gate to Chicago, a poetic idea about the city it reflects.” The 12-foot underbelly is called the “omphalos” or navel and multiplies reflections in a vortex.
An amazingly playful place to be at the cost of, oh, say, a few thousand books for Chicago’s schools.
This sculpture is nicer than a lot of dare I say ‘Art’ that we sometimes get erected here in the UK -beautiful images by the way.
F*ck you Jack. This thing is amazing, and didnt cost us anything. It was donated.
Why dont u get a head on you and learn a little respect fag.
Caleb – The irony of you saying “learn a little respect” and then proceeding to call him a ‘fag’ and saying ‘f*** you’ is hilarious to me.
and thats a flippin cool sculpture, and some amazing pictures. Now I have a reason to go to Chicago. I just hope I don’t get murdered by corrupt politicians while im there.
Wow, that is such a beautiful piece of art work, the way the reflections change, it is truly inspiring, and so much better than a lot of ‘art’ that gets foisted on the public these days.
I got to see this when visiting Chicago (I live in St. Louis) it was absolutely amazing! It entertained me for quite some time. Beautiful!
Cool sculpture. But I’d need a much better reason to visit the US than this…..
I’m surprised no one has screamed Photoshop! My God, a piece of public sculpture of this caliber is worth more to the public than, say, a few thousand mediocre school books. How about we can have both if we quit allowing our countries assets to be shipped off shore, and what about this phony excuse for a war anyway! Great art gets you talking.
Jack, even if this had cost the city a lot of money things like this actually make a lot of money because it generates tourism. I think it’s awesome. I wish we had a bean where I live. Instead we have a big sculpture that looks a lot like balls. Giant iron balls. The sort my boyfriend claims he has (it’s a lie).
Wish I would have thought of that. Respect.
WOW, what a beautiful idea, and the size is very impressive. I’d like the think that the designer knew what beautiful photos could be created while he was crafting this lovely sculpture, It looks alive, wearing the city scape as it’s camouflage:) Genius.
This really brings some class back to chrome.. AWESOME.
The bean is only one of the thousands of things that make Chicago such a great city to visit and to live in.
Nick, the “corrupt politicians” won’t mess with you if you don’t mess with them.
I live about a half mile from Millennium Park, and often walk there to spend the afternoon on the grass. Man, I love this city
Way to go, Chicago! This thing is beautiful.
Flick ya bean. haha. quality piece of art and amazing pictures
I agree that this is one of the best public sculptures. Most of them look like a bunch of scrap metal welded together. Hell the “ghost dance” here in Nashville looks like spare parts to a roller coaster.
I live in Chicago and I have to say this sculpture is one of the many little things that make this city the best.
When I visited Chicago I saw this and thought it was just the coolest thing. It makes for great pictures and really adds to the scenery. I think its a great idea and a beautiful piece of work.
The sculpture is now covered by graffiti. Has the art been destroyed or enhanced?
Chicago is now on my list of US cities to visit, that thing is absolutely AWESOME!
that ‘thing’ is awesome
I imagine it has to be clean rather often, not only from graffiti but also from standard dirt, rain etc
they should pick those who make graffiti on it and force them to clean it once a week
I think this is simply stunning. It is a lovely piece of public art that just keeps on giving! Well done, Chicago. Just another reason wh Chicago is fast becoming one of my must-visit cities. Beautiful.
schoolbooks in america ?? never knew they had any…
How this city art work goes with a pigeon, truly enemy of city art work
I didnt know they had schools OR books
I love the bean. It is truly a new symbol of the city.
In Chicago, when someone wants to build a building, a certain percent of cost is added on for projects like this. So actually, when you say that money is being taken away from schools, thats not even close. It comes from building houses.
que merda
I like it very cool
cool looking sculpture but it looks more like a diaphram than a bean lol. Thanks stumble
OMG manchester, england has its very own version
http://www.dsphotographic.com/g2/16793-3/Bridgewater Hall – 008.jpg
although not quite the same scale
I realy wanted visit Chicago when I was in US but I couldnt.
That’s very interesting!
Very interesting. That’s really?
The bean is nice, but the bottom is all tarnished and smudged from people touching it and it is now next to that stupid face/tv/waterfall thing. The Millennium Flame is pretty freaking cool though; it used to be on the Kennedy Expressway but the sun glinting off of it was causing accidents so they gave it to Rose-Hulman Inst of Tech. It’s got a fountain as the base now and I had the honor of spending a few lovely evenings in said fountain with a pair of beautiful women and a few bottles of Champagne. Ahh, the good ol’ days.
A great piece of imaginative creation. I would not call it a sculpture since most or all pieces of the reflective steel is machine crafted and finished to a mirror like gloss.Remarkable and one more copied in another Metro will make it boring
Photoshop…hahahahahaha!
I live near here, it is gorgeous. The face fountain near here is weird though.
Wow, so who cleans this thing?
To the people concerned with the cost to the city – it was zero. The entire park was paid for by private citizens/foundations, etc. And it is an amazing piece.
@Olmec
Vernors Ginger Ale, Domino’s Pizza, The Grand Canyon, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Lake Tahoe, Coney Island Hot Dogs … the list goes on and on.
good to know that we have finally ensured that the children of world are fed, housed, educated and free from warfare, bloodshed and violence. now we have all this money to spend on blobs for our fun
fucking pile of shit mate
beautiful
ddddd duhsu Aug 29th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
good to know that we have finally ensured that the children of world are fed, housed, educated and free from warfare, bloodshed and violence. now we have all this money to spend on blobs for our fun
fucking pile of shit mate
dude i live in chicago and have tons of hardships.But this was totally paid for by the rich wealthier people! They held fundraisers for the park. So maybe you should ask them why they spend their money on this and not education.
Holy crap, i want to see this thing built.
Not to put down the nobility of feeding the hungry and helping the poor, but that argument is totally ridiculous. It is too easy to use and has no merits for this.
If we had to wait till every starving person on Earth is fed before we spend any money on art, there would be no paintings, sculptures, movies, or any such things that add to life. (And yes, I know that poor people in e.g. Africa won’t travel to Chicago or ever see this sculpture on the Internet.) I know that if I won a million dollars on the lottery or had a job that paid me big bucks, I’d probably choose some charities to support, but I would also spend on things that *I* would enjoy. And I wouldn’t feel bad about spending anything on myself.
I’m sorry for your hardships and wish that you can find some way out of them. And yes, you’re right, education is definitely a worthwhile cause to support.
Good luck.
=)
absolute quality piece of art, luv 2 c it!
nd de ppl bitchin bout it r hilarious!!
u shud check out de state of dublins ‘art’….a giant spike on oconnel street dats already startin 2 topple over, like tower of pisa style!! it dus hav a time capsule underneath so dats pretty cool!!:)
they have to polish that thing like every day, it gets dirty fast
I live in Chicago and I would have to say it’s the most dumb thing to check out in the city. How about going to the top of the sears tower on a sunny day, take in a show at second city (where tons of saturday night live actors have come from), and the millions of other things that make the city great. Not some crazy huge bean. I for one rather have seen the money for this donated to the schools. Kids that will grow to do great things is much better then a shiny paper weight.
@ XjamieX – It’s nice to know that the illiterate among us can still appreciate art.
Contemporary art never attracted me much; I prefer the classic artists. However, I do have an affinity for shiny objects. I think I shall have to see this some day.
REally imazing, this thing is so creative makes one look it again and again.
“good to know that we have finally ensured that the children of world are fed, housed, educated and free from warfare, bloodshed and violence. now we have all this money to spend on blobs for our fun
fucking pile of shit mate”
Thankfully, replying to blog postings IS helping all that. Well done.
Also, this is a wonderful piece.
Beautiful, beautiful….Chicago has Miro, Picasso, Chagall, Dubuffet, Calder, Richard Hunt, the Art Institute, fabulous museums and its architecture all outdoors. Do I need to say anymore??? If you are a tourist go to Chicago, it also has great resturants, but don’t go in the winter.
Cool, but as some one said before I need a better reason to visit the US. Kudos to the artist and the photographer.
que padres fotos.
http://www.musicalmente.tv
Hi
You shoud be the journalist with your nice talent
Indian installation artists rock!
Where can I buy a small replica of the Chicago Bean
“Ray Sep 3rd, 2008 at 8:01 am
I live in Chicago and I would have to say it’s the most dumb thing to check out in the city. How about going to the top of the sears tower on a sunny day, take in a show at second city (where tons of saturday night live actors have come from), and the millions of other things that make the city great. Not some crazy huge bean. I for one rather have seen the money for this donated to the schools. Kids that will grow to do great things is much better then a shiny paper weight.”
Ray is very right. Although its nice, its not the only thing to come to Chicago for. there’s so much more here. There are so many different museums that people dont even know about! how about come in July and eat at the Taste of Chicago? or go to the museum of science and industry and learn about the second city there (take your kids! they will LOVE it!). dont just come to see some what used to be a shiny sculpture and a weird face fountain….you will be greatly disappointed. how about the Buckingham fountain? im sorry but i personally dont like the thing and wish they would have put the money (475 million dollars)to better use. oh and yeah sure its great for tourism…and dont tell me that it was all DONATED….HAHAHAHAHAAAA…the city was taxed and is still being taxed up the wazoo for it (like everything else).
does anyone know where you can buy a smaller coffee table size replica of the cloud gate sculpture?
Chicago is such a wonderful place to take photos. I have been taking Chicago Photos of this city for nearly 30 years and there is always something new to capture.
it looks like some thing Alive
& shaering feeling with u full day full night.
To just think about how much and where the money comes from to create it is very short sighted. Consider the increased press and tourism which translates into tax revenues this brings.
A smaller version of this can be made by taking a common bean and painting it silver. NOT !!!!1
Great piece of work.
hei..
somebody please help me!!!
what is Anish KApoor’e purpose of making the cloud gate bean?
Cool shape and it only cost $23,000,000 to make. Yes indeed, that’s a 23 with 6 of those zeros. But when you’ve got cool shapes and you can see funny faces who cares about the cost, eh?
Elaine Oct 6th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
Where can I buy a small replica of the Chicago Bean?
I can get you one but it’ll cost you.