Abstract Bean by Chipka
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No AI - This artwork was created entirely by hand or with traditional digital tools.
Description
Chicago’s Cloud Gate sculpture, commonly called The Bean, has gained world-wide notoriety, simply because it looks like a gigantic, metal bean. It’s reflective, it’s smooth, it’s suspiciously free of pigeon poop. I can’t say if it’s an artistic wonder or not, but it’s is—most definitely—a major city-landmark.
I have a number of “Bean” shots, and before I leave Chicago, I’m likely to make a few more. It’ll be a while before I can leave Chicago, but this is a major undertaking that has never left the forefront of my conscious thoughts. It’s only a matter of time before the city is behind me. In the meantime, I’ll photograph it. I took this particular Bean shot during a nocturnal wander in down-town Chicago. I wasn’t in the mood to return home, which probably explains why I was hanging around The Bean when the rest of down-town Chicago seemed closed for the night.
This is a view from directly under the bean; it is a strange space, something of an echo chamber, something of a rain-shelter, something…well…something artistic. In the depths of night, it is quite dark, as one would expect. But if you lie flat on your back with your camera, activate your flash, and simply take a picture, this is the result. I was tempted to do something along the lines of my neon abstracts with this shot, but at the last minute, I decided to leave it alone.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting, and I hope you’re all having a great week. My week has been hectic—rather unexpectedly—but the verdict is still out as to whether or not that’s a good or bad thing.
Comments (23)
Looks almost cosmic, could be some kind of star system. Excellent upload and comment :)
HA! It reminds me of a shot I took inside my vacuum jug :-) Much more confi to do :-) Beautiful shot though :) Hope you closed your eyes when you flashed.
Yes...artistic!! It is the right word. Yes,it is!! I feel grabbed by the light, and by the darkness and i feel that i can go trough it all, in a trip into the unknown. The city is also "that" mistery, as well a bean also can be. Fabulous work and thoughts. Bravo!
Mysterious and peculiar, but also lovely. I'm glad you said what it is!
I agree with ironsoul......it looks almost cosmic...wonderful done.....
EXCELLENT! GREAT IMAGE!
Lovely shot, you're a master at transforming the normal into something decidedly NOT normal.
Excellent abstract, Chip! You're getting some mileage out of that bean, but it's just so darn cool! :-D
I've heard all the stories of the ninjas attacking "the bean" and seen quite a few of the resultant shots...BUT they were all in daylight. This is so cool. You never fail to come up with a new Chip-a-way:)
I have to agree with others, this really does look cosmic in appearance! How apt that this should appear on the day that Voyager I leaves our solar system for places unknown..^=^ Fabulous shot! ^=^
astonishing image!
Since I have no idea what the sculpture looks like, from here it looks like a cosmic spiderweb of sorts, a nebula of unknown origin. Wonderful!
The day I was there that inside-cavern space was crammed with people looking at how funny their reflections looked. What a wonder it must be to be in there all alone, no matter the time of day! Very cool shot. I can easily imagine you making this picture. Fabulous work!
Outstanding capture my friend.
one can get lost in the metallic windings of this thing--what a terrific image! Thank you! :-)
A nighttime bean shot, what a great idea! And lying down inside, even better. What a mind you have...a fantastic shot!
Great shot Chip - you caught the abstract quality of The Bean so well and your narrative is interesting as always!
I am very taken by how cosmic this appears. The light bouncing off the curved facets to shape as galaxies spread across an ever expanding universe. And curiously, we are outside looking into our three dimensional space from 'above'. Perhaps The Bean is a practical model of the shape of the universe wherein energy bounces about its three dimensional 'walls' to create matter and structure that we take for granted. There are stranger ideas. As for the pigeons and the lack of poop. Consider what a reflective object must look like from above. Just sky or void, a null target in the pigeon's mind. It would be an interesting experiment to see if bird choose to avoid mirrors when pooping from the sky.
Very glad you left it like this. The nights reflections can be seen like galaxies in the dark yet shined surface of it's galactic realm. Bet this has such a shine to it, blinding all pigeons keeping them at bay. ;)
This is a great capture and as always a great narrative. I got curious and found at least 11 videos on Cloud Gate/"the bean" in Chicago. That will be a must see if I ever do get to that great city you live in (during good weather, of course).
Looks like every wormhole I've ever been through. Usually a great deal of trouble on the other side... Thanks for sharing!
How utterly bizarre. A still from a horror movie. Light bouncing off thick, heavy cobwebs, spider webs over old glass windows, heavy stillness .. yet you swear you hear something move .. delightfully weird, wonderfully freaky, and so hard to believe the last time I saw a picture of the Bean .. it was with my little great-nephews lined up in "front" of it! How does one reconcile this image with that??? LOL