Chicago's Crown Fountain by Jaume Plensa

(A little summer fun for all of my heat seeking comrades out there!)

A colleague of mine was in Chicago recently on business, and this prompted discussion about some of the aspects of this dynamic city amongst a couple of us who had been there. There was mention of the mesmerising sculpture Cloud Gate (see my entry made August 5, 2010) and the brilliant bandshell Jay Pritzker Pavillion (my entry of August 21, 2010). And how about those two towering video screens that displayed people's facial expressions and periodically spewed water out onto those frolicking about on the splashpad.

This prompted me to revisit the pictures from my trip back in the summer of 2010. Upon reviewing the meagre imagery that I shot at this location, I am disappointed that I didn't shoot more... more faces, more activity... from varying angles and heights. But then I recall that it was absolutely sweltering on this July day, and the city devouring and museum absorbing events that preceded visiting this locale were extreme both in energy expediture and in geographical coverage. At this point, it took everything I could muster just to raise my camera to my eye!

Still photography doesn't really do this creation justice: these faces aren't static images, they are video clips which actually portray random likenesses of local Chicagoans (nearly a thousand of them, as I've learned). Imagine knowing your neighbour or your buddy could appear on that big screen at any time! And it gets even better: some of the images portray people pursing their lips which coincides with the eruption of water from fountains installed inside... imagine a kid being able to see a 50 foot tall video of his face spitting water out onto all the people playing there!!! This sort of thing doesn't just happen in any city, folks...