Saturday, May 3, 2014

Saturday fun: Where IS this?



     Two theories: one, I somehow managed to wander around the Loop for the past 20 years and just never notice this enormous hunk of, er, modern art prominently displayed in the lobby of one of our better-known downtown buildings. 
      Or two, I have seen it before, but my mind, in some kind of natural protective mechanism, just wipes itself clean of all memory of it, hitting some kind of mental reset button, perhaps during the REM sleep cycle. 
      Now regular readers know that I sometimes look askance at public art. But the Picasso in Daley Plaza is the Pieta compared to this thing, and Dubuffet's Snoopy in a Blender in front of the Thompson Center is the Venus de Milo.
      So the standard question: Where is this? Plus two bonus questions: 1) what is it? And 2) what do you think of it? And since the subject is art or, rather, "art," the winner will receive one of this blog's fine, limited edition posters, suitable for framing. 

9 comments:

  1. I'm going to guess the new post office next to the Kluczinski Federal Building.
    What is it?
    Maybe parts of old post offices?
    What do I think of it?
    Ugly, ugly, pile of shit, but I wish I was that creative in scamming government is paying for scrap metal.

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  2. Ralph H. Metcalfe Federal Building
    77 West Jackson Blvd.

    The Town Ho's Story by Frank Stella.

    It's an eyeful.

    -- Art Gold

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  3. Metcalfe Federal Building.

    Snoopy's Sopwith Camel in a Blender?

    It speaks to me, but uses pretty foul language.

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  4. Bingo Art -- congrats. Email me your address and I'll send you your poster. Any relation to Ed Gold?

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    1. Ed Gold is a cousin of mine. He stayed in the city and I've moved out to the far western suburbs. I can barely see the Willis Tower anymore. But Ed keeps me updated on what's cooking in the city.
      And those hyphens: "The Town-Ho's Story" by Stella.
      My physical address is on the way! Thanks.
      -- A. Gold.

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  5. Speaking of which, when does Stella get her own statue, or should they put one up of her while Kup's is in for repair?

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    1. That could be a solution out of this. It's already by Frank Stella. We could just think of it as "Stella," her tribute, a melange of objects not out of character with her column. I sat next to her at the Dante Awards last year, and we had a pleasant conversation.

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    2. No beef with Stella. She was of her time. I am currently scouting locations for your statue. Perhaps in the plaza where the hot dog joint at Randolph and Franklin was until the Man made them move.

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    3. Nah, too many statues of people who don't deserve it. How about a chair? A bronze chair, facing the river, just south of Madison Street. Nice place for a person to sit, smoke a cigar, look at the river. That would be a fitting tribute.

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