ART + ARCHITECTURE
Whatever one chooses to call the sleek,
spare piece looming over the Loop,
it was immediately embraced by an
enraptured populace and became an
instant icon for That Toddlin’ Town,
garnering applause from all camps,
high-brow, low-brow, et al. The simplicity of the Bean’s appearance belies
the technical trials involved in designing and creating the piece. Fabricating a seamless surface over the steel
armature was one of the most taxing
technical obstacles for the engineers,
and such technical conundrums led to
a cost overrun in excess of $10 million
(saddled by private funders).
The Bean borrows from a minimalist
heritage, with a nod to Judd, Serra,
Nauma and Hesse. Kapoor’s work,
however, has a sensuality which is
generally lacking in the art of his
forebears. The Turner prize-winning
artist calls his pieces “non objects” and
his works blur boundaries, leverage
illusions, and challenge perfunctory
perceptions. Even his largest works
have a certain “sculptural incorporeality”. Critics have waxed that the Bean
bridges two realms and have lauded
Kapoor for inviting us to consider a
state of “inbetween-ness”.
pander to the spiritual elements of
Kapoor’s work when playfully circling
the Bean. Rather, they seem to delight
blithely in the fun of the piece. After
all, when one is in the underbelly of the
Bean gazing up at the omphalos, the
funhouse-like mirrors create the sense
of a carnival arcade, with stretched, distorted reflections repeating to infinity.
While there may be a few who contemplate the Bean as a portal leading to an
enlightened realm, most simply seem to
relish indulging in a gleeful moment of
narcissism, as they, smartphone in hand,
take the requisite selfie with Bean. And
perhaps that is what the best public art
is able to do—provide satisfaction to the
surface for all, as well as fodder for those
who wish to probe a bit deeper.
Still, the throngs who flock to Millennium Park each day don’t appear to
MARCH 2014
47