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| Rendering of proposed Siskel and Ebert statue |
My first thought: there already IS a bad statue of Roger Ebert, down in Champaign. Do we really need another? As for Gene Siskel, well, best to draw the veil.
To be located on private property, so they're of course free to do whatever they like. And this is in the fine tradition of godawful tourist trap TV tributes, bronzes monstrosities of the Fonz and Bob Newhart and whomever. Just as postage stamps never again are the honors they once were before Thin and Fat Elvis, so bronze statues long ago sank from equestrian honors bestowed upon heroes to metallic essays in fatuousness. This is not to take anything away from Roger Ebert, whom I knew and admired deeply. But he already has his deathless tribute: his words.The thing is unveiled in 2028, and I'll probably never see it — most people won't, there being no compelling reason to step foot in Prudential Plaza. I guess this is supposed to draw them there.
Will it? Have you ever gone anywhere in Chicago to look at a statue? I mean, I'll pause passing the Kup statue on Wacker Drive — quite a good, stylized work that has some of the panache the man himself possessed — maybe clap a comforting hand on his foot and say, "Oh Kup, you wouldn't recognize the place." But I wouldn't cross the street to do it.
Interesting statute. Looks like a Mickey Mouse standing on a turtle with a monkey on his back. Please tell me who made it, where it is at, and what it is called. Thanks for the post. I too miss the boys and their movie comments!
ReplyDeleteNot sure if NS will notice your query, but I think he may have used that before. I can't find an actual title for the sculpture atop the blog, but it seems like it was part of an exhibition by the artist Damien Hirst called "Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable," which took place in Venice in 2017.
DeleteYour description is excellent, however!
Here are a couple links about it:
https://ruthmillington.co.uk/damien-hirst-treasures-from-the-wreck-of-the-unbelievable/
https://lesoeuvres.pinaultcollection.com/en/exhibition/treasures-wreck-unbelievable-damien-hirst
For many years I wondered how the Roman Forum became littered with statues when it was so many years after its fall.
ReplyDeleteNow I wonder how close we are to becoming a collapsed society, especially since we have started accumulating so many statues...
Spot on!
ReplyDeleteEven the photo/rendering is lousy. Roger looks like he's levitating.
ReplyDeleteSiskel was often a jerk to Ebert. Not a fan of that Roeper who later replaced Siskel or wrote for the SunTimes in the past. Once in a while he still pops up in the paper. The ST really had to trim down.
ReplyDeleteMost modern art pieces or sculptures are crappy. But we are supposed to like them.
ReplyDeleteI've always liked the police officer statue from the Haymarket Riot.
ReplyDeleteIt's the proper size (5/4 scale), simple but effective. Sadly, too many people messed with it, so now it's in a parking lot at police headquarters.
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=270274
There was a great photo of that statue upside-down on the shoulder of the Kennedy Expressway after the SDS (or somebody) planted a bomb and blew it off it's base.
Deleteme too-wondered where it went-thanks
Deleteme too
DeleteWith a few exceptions, most statues seem to be a waste of space and metal.
ReplyDeleteStrangely people do visit Chicago and specific places in Chicago because of statues they stand in front of them and have their picture taken it's extraordinarily common.
ReplyDeleteI believe the most popular destination is the Michael Jordan statue at the United center I see people out there night and day when I drive by.
Harry caray is very popular. I too would not cross the street to view a statue of a popular celebrity usually now dead let alone take a picture in front of one hell I wouldn't cross the street to get a picture with a live celebrity I find it all quite troubling.
I'll ask the question again: Celebrities-- WTF are we celebrating here?
DeleteI guess it's a bit much to say its quality calls to mind the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue, but I relish any chance to ridicule that ridiculous piece of work. A tribute to a traitor, taken down in 2021...
ReplyDeletehttps://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ugly-nathan-bedford-forrest-statue
Excellent column. They should display it right next to the statues.
ReplyDeletePioneer Court seems to be the epicenter for commemorating recent Chicago celebrities. Having once spent an evening with Jack Brickhouse, the sculpture of him there feels somewhat nostalgic. In all my years in Chicago, I've encountered several of those people in real life, but their likenesses ring hollow when seen in the context of gratuitous reverence. When the Soviet Union collapsed, a graveyard of sculpture was formed in a park located next to the House of Artists to preserve the Soviet past. This tradition that goes back to the Roman Empire. Our public spaces in Chicago are filled with such luminaries from Lincoln, Washington, Grant and Jefferson to Ida B. Wells, Michael Jordan and Ernie Banks. Taking that into consideration, why not Siskel and Ebert? I may never go out of my way to see them, but what is America without idol warship? The Golden Calf? Mt. Rushmore? And don't forget the new Obama statuary. No matter how monumental, they all feel like graveyards to me. Who know? Someday we may see a likeness of Mr. Steinberg, against his wishes, standing next to the Tribune Tower. That I would cross the street to see!!!
ReplyDelete