The Art Institute of Chicago (which will henceforth be referred to as the AIC) spans an amazing one-million square feet, making it second only to Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Approaching it from the street, you probably wouldn’t guess it’s so vast. Only after you’ve found yourself wandering, and getting lost in the sheer scope of it, will you begin to appreciate the immenseness of this world-class museum.

Put simply, the AIC is a tour-de-force of modern and post-modern art.

Marinara That’ll Turn You To Stone

Paintings and sculptures you’ve heard about, and seen photos of for your entire life, live here. Because it’s featured in the introduction of a well-known television drama, many people will be familiar with the duo of paintings, “Adam & Eve” by Lucas Cranach, for instance. And fans of the board game Masterpiece may recognize “Old Man with a Gold Chain” by Rembrandt, if they aren’t already fans of Rembrandt to begin with.

Aside from the major “rockstar” pieces of the museum, there were also more unusual creations, such as a darkened sculpture room filled with hauntingly black square pillars and a photo of the head of Medusa created entirely out of spaghetti entitled “Medusa Marinara”. (And I must say, seeing Medusa’s image interpreted in Italian cuisine is pretty hilarious.)

But even if you’re not an Art History major, you’re sure to appreciate two paintings in particular. The first is the unparalleled “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper. Finally seeing this painting in person was a special treat because I’ve always enjoyed the nostalgic way the painting evokes the era it depicts. If you really gaze into the painting, you can almost feel the hard, cold wood of the curving bar. Beside the painting, a sign said it:

…was inspired by “a restaurant on New York’s Greenwich Avenue where two streets meet,” but the image, with its carefully constructed composition and lack of narrative, has a timeless quality that transcends its particular locale.

Indeed it does.

“A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” was just Incredible

But without a doubt, the painting I was most excited to see, and the painting you’ll probably recognize the most, is “A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte.”

Painted by Georges Seurat (pronounced Soo-rah), this painting is one of the truly priceless works in the museum. I was first exposed to this lovely painting when I saw the movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” many years ago. Yet when I first entered the museum, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to see any of Seurat’s famous work because I’d been told much of the art had been temporarily shipped to a museum in Texas due to remodeling that was being done. So, you can imagine how glad I was to hear that they did keep one of Seurat’s paintings. And not just any one: the one which is perhaps his most famous.

Seeing “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte” in person was pretty amazing, and I even had time to take multiple macro photos, each getting progressively closer to the painting to capture the tiniest detail. I would certainly never touch the glass that’s over the painting, but I did take a macro photo close enough so that you can see even the individual brush strokes that reveal the style in which it was created. Do you see how everything is actually made up of tiny dots? That’s because this painting was created in pointillism style. Check Art Institute of Chicago album for the macro photos that reveal this detail in full size.

The Museum Itself is an Icon

You don’t have to be an Art History major to enjoy this museum. It features many of the iconic images you’ve probably seen before, but seeing them in person delivers a more personal, and more real, emotional impact.

I only spent about 2.5 hours exploring the museum because much of it was inaccessible due to the remodeling. I expect that if it weren’t being remodeled, it would require an afternoon to really to it justice. And if you want to save some money, take advantage of the Free Thursday evenings from 5 to 8 PM. (Subject to change. Check website to make sure.)

A delightful and educational experience, the Art Institute of Chicago is not to be missed. From the truly saucy pieces like the “Medusa Marinara”, to the sublime views of “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”, the AIC spans an impressive range of artists and periods. It’s a real gem.

So get down there and check it out before they remodel again. For all I know, for the next remodel they could ship the Seurat to Spain!

Note: The author of this website does not make any claims to know the future movements of any Seurat works of art, painted or otherwise. Such claims are purely comedic and probably not even that funny. When questioned, the Kingdom of Spain declined to comment.

But seriously, what is the deal with that medusa marinara?

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Photos from this trip are in the Art Institute of Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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First opened in 1893, the Field Museum is a world-class natural history museum enclosing over 1 million square feet with more than 20 million specimens, including Sue, the largest, most complete, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus rex fossil ever discovered. Today I’m going to talk a bit about my experience at the Field Museum and point out what I consider the top 3 exhibits you simply can’t miss.

Fossils in the Floor

Interestingly enough, a curator that I met on the first floor told me that most of the building isn’t even accessible to the public. Two floors were above the publicly accessible 2nd floor, and two floors were beneath the publicly accessible lower floor, making six total. With a sense of mystery, he told me about the different levels and how the floor I was standing on actually contained pieces of ancient fossils from a sea bed. I looked down and photographed these small white fragments embedded in the tiles. He also explained some of the history of the building and how it was used as a hospital in one of the nation’s larger wars. I wasn’t sure if I could believe him entirely, but this older-looking gentleman did work for the museum, so I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

#1. Meet Sue, the Tyrannosaurus rex

Without a doubt, the first thing you’ll notice when you step into the Field Museum is the looming T-rex on the first floor. And this magnificent T-rex is definitely in my list of top 3 exhibits to enjoy while at the museum. The T-rex, nicknamed Sue, is nearly 13 meters long (42 feet), 4 meters (13 feet) tall at the hip, and the most complete T-rex ever discovered. It was simultaneously wonderful and frightening to imagine that this 7 ton creature once roamed the Earth hunting its prey.

I decided to wait a bit for the 11:15 tour, and it was definitely worth the short wait. The tour guide introduced the main areas of the museum: Paleontology, Geology, Biology, and Egyptology, among other things. When this brief introduction finished, we were near the Egyptian exhibit on the first floor which was a small stone building. The huge stones looked as if they really were from Egypt, and inside this small stone building I met the same curator I’d met before the tour began. He talked at length about what the hieroglyphics on the walls meant and briefly discussed Egyptian pharaohs and their ways of life. He departed as quickly as he appeared (such as many fascinating people are apt to do), and I began exploring the maze of a museum on my own.

#2. Step inside the Ancient Egypt exhibit

The Ancient Egyptian exhibit is wonderfully diverse, and it’s my second pick for my list of top 3 exhibits you can’t miss at the Field Museum. Within the Egyptian stone building, I found a staircase going up over a stone wall and then down again. (It was one of the few staircases I’ve used in my life that went up first in order to take you to a lower level.) And soon I was descending down the flights into darkness.

At first, I couldn’t see much.

Once my eyes adjusted, I could see I was now sanding in a rather dark hallway with dramatic lighting around me. Actually I was in a replication of a Mastaba Tomb. I turned a corner and saw a mummy for the first time in a long while. The gilded mummy had gold-embossed face, and it was holding up pretty well considering its age of about 2,300 years.

As I neared the heart of the Ancient Egypt exhibit, I passed a wooden coffin with the Eye of Horus (also known as Ra) painted on its side. The Eye of Horus symbol was frequently painted on coffins to protect the occupant in the afterlife. Farther on, I was delighted to see Egyptian scrolls, memorial stones, and even a real Egyptian. Yes, the unwrapped mummy of a boy was carefully placed on a blanket behind some glass. A sign explained that the museum didn’t know when or why the boy’s wrappings were removed and pointed out that, before x-ray photography, mummies were often unwrapped to simply see what was inside.

While exploring, I also discovered other fascinating facts such as how to play a board game that the Pharaohs used to play and remains of an Egyptian sculpture that looked strikingly like Michael Jackson. Is this proof of Michael Jackson’s heritage or a mere coincidence? I’ll leave that up to you to decide.

Probably the most surprising element was the Egyptian love poem entitled “Last Night Made It Seven, My Eyes Missed My Kitten” which was delightfully frank about romantic love. Here’s an excerpt:

“Why, that girl’s better than any prescription,
more to me than the Pharmacopoeia,
My own secret Hathor Home Remedy?
Her slipping into my room from the road!
(have her examine me, then watch my energy!)

See the entire poem in the gallery.

Seems little has changed in three thousand years when it comes to romance, including man’s propensity to write poetry for his beloved. How endearing.

A Short Underground Adventure

Soon after, I took a brief detour into the Underground Adventure exhibit in which everything is oversized and the visitor is plunged into a bug’s eye view of the underground world. If you like giant earwig models, giant spiders, or giant pennies that say, “In Soil We Trust,” you’ll really dig this place. The exhibit did a good job at showing how alive soil really is, but I would have appreciated more interactivity.

The Hall of Jades and Mysterious Bi discs

After snapping a picture of the Stanley Field sculpture, I headed up to the 2nd floor where fresh wonders awaited me. I began at the Hall of Jades which featured a 1,130 kg (2490 lb) Nephrite boulder, mysterious Bi discs from the Neolithic era, and a beautiful jadeite desk screen from the Chinese Qing period. A description below the Bi discs explained that the significance of these discs is still a mystery, apparently being used in burials stretching back as far as 4,000 years ago. What could their purpose be? Are they part of a memorial tradition? I can’t help but think of the discs from the movie Tron in which one’s entire life depended on a disc. The disc shape, it seems, has a long and detailed history in human culture.

Just outside the Hall of Jades were some Chinese artifacts. One was an exquisitely detailed ivory carving of the Daoist longevity god, and the other was a wood carving of Guan Yin. You remember Guan Yin, don’t you? It’s the Bodhisattva of compassion. Can’t recall, perhaps? About two years before, I came across the figure of Guan Yin in the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Unlike that large statue, this figure of Guan Yin had 24 arms and was sitting on what appeared to be a pine cone. I’d read a bit about ancient pine cone symbology, but I didn’t expect it to show up in Buddhist art from 200 years ago. Of course, the world is full of surprises, and pine cone symbology shows up in the most surprising places. Recommended research.

T-rex Mural & Sue’s Skull Up Close

After briefly examining a trilobite fossil that had been into Earth orbit, I made my way over to the T-rex skull exhibit. Because of its weight, the real skull was on display up here on the 2nd level, separate from the rest of the skeleton. An accurate copy of the skull, one that weighed less, was made for the full T-rex skeleton I saw on the first floor. I enjoyed being able to see Sue’s skull up close, and I couldn’t help but wonder how it really looked all those years ago, when it was alive and warm breath came from its nostrils.

Above the skull was a huge mural of Sue painted by Paleoartist John Gurche. Later I learned that he won the Lanzendorf PaleoArt Prize from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology for this mural, and I can see why. It’s fantastically textured and cleverly laid out, quite lifelike. The viewer is placed in a subordinate position, making the T-rex look huge and menacing with it’s eyes glowing a soft red and dead prey underfoot.

Nearby were displays highlighting Sue’s furcula (a.k.a. the wishbone), which was the first ever found from a T-rex. This is especially exciting to scientists because only birds and meat-eating dinosaurs have wishbones. The forelimb (a.k.a. what normal people would call the arm) was also on display. Since it’s so short, how the forelimb was used remains a mystery to this day.

#3. The Evolving Planet Exhibit

And even more mysteries lay ahead for me on that day for the next part of the museum I explored was a cornerstone of the entire museum, and it’s also my 3rd and final pick: The Evolving Planet exhibit. So far, I’d only seen a handful of ancient creatures, but as I soon learned, that was only the tip of the ice burg.

Take a trip back to the origins of life on Earth with me and visit the Evolving Planet Exhibit photo album in the Byteful Gallery. Warning: Blood-thirsty dinosaurs are contained therein. And perhaps even an Dromaeosaur claw… No!!! The horror! The horror! The horror…

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Photos from this trip are in the Field Museum – Chicago and Evolving Planet Exhibit albums. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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It is basically a crime to visit Chicago without spending some time in Chicago’s Museum Campus. Not only is it home to the wonderful Shedd Aquarium and Field Museum, it is also the home of the world famous Adler Planetarium & Astronomy Museum, the oldest planetarium still in existence today. But don’t let that fool you: the Adler Planetarium employs some of the latest state-of-the-art equipment, as well as tons of interactive exhibits that somehow manage to entertain, educate, and hold the attention of both children and adults.

The building itself is impressive, having a huge domed top — for the planetarium part, of course. But that was still to come. You actually enter into the upper floor and can go down from there. The upper floor had some interesting sights, such as a life-like model of NASA’s Mars Rover “Spirit” and a scale model of the solar system featuring a sun that extended beyond the height of the floor.

On the upper floor there were plenty of interactive exhibits such as:

• Dials you could turn to control a boiling geyser simulator, the effect of which was otherworldly and fascinating.
• A crater-making machine which shot clay meteors onto a clay surface to simulate what a real crater would look like.
• Funhouse-type mirrors that showed what might happen to you if you were pulled into a black hole feet first. Apparently the technical term that astronomers use is “spaghettification.” (See the photos.)
• An overhead infrared light aimed at a large round mirror showed how even non-visible light can be reflected. You could definitely feel the heat if you were at the correct angle from the mirror.
• A rather absurd but amusing light sculpture that looked like it was from some 1980s interior design movement, though it was actually meant to give the viewer an idea of how many stars can be seen in the night sky.
• And an obligatory solar-powered car that every museum seems to have these days.

The creators of the museum really made an effort to make the museum as educational and interactive as possible to people of all ages.

Down on the Lower Level

On the lower level, which was quite dark, there was a small theater, which I would see later, and a simulated NASA classroom. Videos of moon landings and space walks were playing on large screens, and beyond that an infrared image of the hallway appeared on a huge screen. I was lucky because just as I approached the large screen, a family of three approached, and their infrared image appeared on the screen. Not sure how much it had to do with astronomy, but it certainly looked interesting! (Hint: Yellow is warmer.)

Cutting-edge Atwood Sphere

Probably the most popular attraction on the lower level was the Atwood Sphere: a huge, yet thin, metal sphere with tiny holes in its surface to create a whopping 692 stars. It was designed to show people the alignments of the stars before humans had ever invented any of the fancy planetarium projectors we use today. At the time it was completed in 1913, it was hailed as “…the most advanced teaching model available and the only walk-in planetarium in North America.” As much as I would have liked to step inside and capture the experience for all of you, there was a line in front of it longer than Falkor, and the planetarium show would be starting soon.

Dearborn Telescope is Ginormous

However, I did have time to see the immense Dearborn Telescope. When I say immense, I mean that you can’t help but gasp when you see it in person, and I could scarcely fit it into my camera’s field of view. Created in 1864, its 18.5 inch lens was a monster in size. A plaque below said that it was originally created for an observatory at the University of Mississippi, but that the Civil War prevented its delivery. So the Chicago Astronomical Society bought it and created the Dearborn telescope. (More information is available in the description of the picture of Dearborn telescope in the gallery.)

Sky Theater Planetarium

Soon, the planetarium show would finally begin. With my camera slung around my neck, I walked into a large dark room, a huge domed ceiling spanning over me, and sat down on one of the hundreds of plastic chairs arranged around a large center column in the center of the room. Atop the column stood a curious device, almost reminiscent of a telescope, except that the end was rounded and had many lenses on its surface. This was the Zeiss Planetarium projector, of course.

The planetarium show was very enjoyable. We got to see a brief history of the historical origins of the constellations, which constellations were visible from Chicago at certain times of the year, and some tips on how to find them ourselves. As you can see from the photos, the projector is also capable of projecting movies onto the domed ceiling, and one of the movies we saw suggested that the galaxies of the universe, when viewed from the right perspective, were arranged in a predictable, almost fractal, pattern. Of course, it’s only a preliminary observation, but if it’s true it would raise some very profound questions about the nature of the universe…

Quickly Shoot for the Moon

When the show ended, I had about 15 minutes before the show in the other theater would start. In that interim, I had just enough time to examine the Gemini XII spacecraft in Adler’s “Shoot for the Moon” exhibit. After looking at the controls, I gained even more respect for the men and women who learn to pilot these incredible machines. In fact, I was surprised that this ancient hunk of metal even made it into orbit. But to be fair, I was looking at quite an old bird that had flown over 40 years ago, and Gemini had aged a lot since then.

Definiti Theater: Cosmic Collisions

The second show took place on the lower level in the Definiti Theater, a digital video environment that utilized a special domed ceiling. This theater was part of an expansion to Adler Planetarium that happened in 1999. That day, a film about planetary collisions, creatively named Cosmic Collisions, was playing in the Definiti Theater; and, despite its name, the film had some rather poignant and graceful moments. It featured some incredible planetary simulations and postulations about how the moon was created. Aside from being entertaining, it was also an educational film, explaining how the Earth’s magnetic field works among other things, and I think most people in the audience walked away having learned something.

Outdoor Attractions

Soon after the Definiti Theater show had finished, the museum closed, but outside of the planetarium were some interesting features, as well. An elegant sculpture entitled “Man Enters the Cosmos” was a reasonably accurate sundial, and a plaque below even explained how to adjust the sundial’s reading to get a more accurate time, depending on the season.

What was more fascinating, though, was Americas’ Courtyard stone calendar. The calendar, built only of short stones that one could sit on, worked on the same principle as the Stonehenge of England, having gaps aligning with where the sun rises and sets at the June and December solstices. The stones were even arranged in a spiral pattern to embody the spiral shape of the galaxies, and I remembered that I’d photographed a plaque inside the museum that mentioned visitors may check the progression of the seasons by seeing where the Sun rises or sets between the two solstice gaps in the stones.

As I photographed the stone calendar, an Asian couple sat on some of the stones, probably deciding how they would spend the rest of their day in Chicago; and in the distance, tiny white sailboats navigated the calm lake. In that moment, as the shadows from the stones grew longer, the afternoon light was rather beautiful.

It’s Out of this World

Whether you have children or not, the Adler Planetarium is not to be missed. Beyond being the only museum in the world with two full-size planetarium theaters and being the oldest planetarium still existing today, the Adler Planetarium has continued to adapt to the changing times and remains an excellent place to explore the wonders of the galaxy around us — the perfect balance between classic and cutting-edge. If you’re taking a trip to visit Chicago, please stop by the Museum Campus. Once you see the dome for yourself, you may just be drawn to go inside and make your own discoveries.

See you, space cowboy.

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Photos from this trip are in the Adler Planetarium – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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Before I get into the story of my visit, I’d like to share some quick stats to help give you a sense of how fantastic this aquarium is:

• Contains over 25,000 fish; 2,100 different species of fish, mammals, birds, snakes, amphibians, and insects
• Continually filters 19 MILLION liters of water (5 million gal.)
• Was once the largest indoor aquarium in the world
• Was the first inland aquarium with a permanent saltwater fish collection
• At 2 Million annual visitors, it’s the most popular cultural attraction in Chicago

Of Land-bridges and Vikings

Of course, I found all of this out after I’d visited, but none of it surprises me now. Without a doubt, the Shedd Aquarium exceeded my expectations. On my way inside, I noticed a large statue of Christopher Columbus that was ironically engraved “To Christopher Columbus, Discoverer of America”, and I wondered what the Vikings or those who crossed the ancient Alaskan land-bridge might have thought of that.

After snapping a quick photo of the view of the Chicago skyline, I stepped inside, about to see some of the most fantastic creatures in the world.

Caimans and Dolphins and Whales, Oh My!

Uncounted numbers of beautiful and mysterious creatures filled the aquarium’s walls, many of which I’d wanted to see for some time. Dwarf Caimans, Caiman Lizards, horribly poisonous Bullet Ants, fat frogs, a Beluga whale family, and more.

One of the highlights of my visit was a dolphin show that took place in the Oceanarium and featured four expertly-trained Pacific White-sided Dolphins. The dolphins seemed to really enjoy performing, and I know the audience definitely enjoyed watching. Somehow I was able to capture a few photos of them in mid-air as they jumped and played, seemingly effortlessly. In their final jump, all four leapt out in formation and dove back into the water in perfect synchronization. It was a wonderful finale, and the applause was immense.

Oceanarium: Lower Level

Afterward, I went below the waterline of the Oceanarium to the lower level to photograph the aquarium tanks through their clear glass walls. The tanks were so huge that the tank walls spanned multiple rooms. One tank even had a baby Beluga whale (you could tell because, unlike its pale parents, it was gray).

Nearby, I also learned a bit about how these huge tanks were filtered and maintained. Through a window, I could see twelve huge particle-based filters. A sign attached to the outside of one of the tanks explained that water was forced down layers of sand and gravel so that solids were trapped in the top few inches of fine-grain sand, and the remaining tanks were handled by another fifteen filters. With these facts in mind, I wandered in deeper.

Faust, the Lazy Komodo Dragon

Surprisingly enough, there was also a small exhibit of lizards on the lower level. And there I met the very rare (and very adorable) Blue Tree Monitor Lizard, only recently identified as its own species. And, as I came around the corner, I found myself sharing a room with a Komodo Dragon for the first time. Later, I found out his name was Faust, and Faust was lazy that day.

To be honest, the photos of Faust are probably all you need to see. Having heard so much hype about the fearsome reputation of Komodo Dragons, I was rather unimpressed by seeing Faust in person. He barely moved when I visited him. Then again, if I were kept well-fed in a warm yet limited environment, I might be lazy too.

The Incredible Wild Reef

Moving onward, I took an elevator down one level to the aquarium’s newest exhibit, Wild Reef. When I stepped out, the creatures were absolutely striking. Such vibrant violets, oranges, greens, and blues…

When I first came down to the lowest level, I would have sworn blind that I saw the world’s first flying ray, but alas, it was a trick of my mind. The reality was that the water was so perfectly clear that a family of rays seemed to fly in the air as they swam over the sand. You can tell from the photo that the water appeared almost completely invisible, which was really a testament to how well Shedd Aquarium keeps the water clean. Those filters I saw before were working hard.

A few minutes later, I saw one of the most charming oddities in nature: a Guitarfish. Unfortunately, the extremely low-light condition of the room made capturing an acceptable photo very challenging, but I was able to capture one photo of the creature’s belly (now in the Byteful Gallery). From that photo you can easily see where it got its name: on its snout is a half meter long piece of cartilage that resembles the neck of a guitar! Truly amazing animals Guitarfish are.

There was no lack of fascinating creatures at the Wild Reef exhibit, such as the tiny white and purple speckled puffer fish that looked like it was trying to camouflage itself, in vain, to match the nearby purple coral. It was a beautiful little creature. I even spotted a few clownfish clowning around. Yes, I found Nemo — and Marlin too apparently.

Closing Time Again

Yet time was running out. The past two hours had flown by like a hummingbird on caffeine, and I had only 3 minutes left before the aquarium staff would start picking people up and literally throwing them out the door. I hurried to see the few remaining exhibits I had missed on the main floor. (Note to the wise: Always work your way to the to lowest level and end on the main floor.)

In those last minutes, I was able to see the proud Blue Iguana (which seemed especially happy to have its mugshot taken in the last few minutes). I was surprised to see that it had a red iris. Is this typical for lizards? I also snapped a photo of a massive sea turtle that looked older than Chicago itself, though I may have simply been imagining it. I mean, just look at it! (You’ll see what I mean when you see the photos in the gallery after you’ve finished this article.) If anyone can help me identify the species of this turtle, I would greatly appreciate it. I’m not a biologist by any means, so please forgive my ignorance regarding lizard irises and ancient tortoises.

Go Visit it for Yourself!

Without a doubt, the Shedd Aquarium is one of my top 5 places to see in Chicago, and I would visit again. It’s a wonderful way to see how beautiful and precious the life from the Earth’s oceans is. And the amazing part is that even though it contains over 2,000 species of fish, it’s still only scratches the surface of the unimaginable diversity of the Earth’s magnificent ocean.

If you have the means, please visit the Shedd Aquarium. There’s something there for everyone to enjoy, and it’s breathtaking in its own special way — an experience you won’t forget. And I certainly haven’t covered everything here. The Shedd Aquarium is simply too dense to fully appreciate in just one visit. Go visit it for yourself, and be sure to say “Hi” to Nemo when you get there.

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Photos from this trip are in the Shedd Aquarium – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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Photogophobia

In fact, I think I may have felt some regret about this museum if I had paid for admission since, on the whole, the museum is quite a photogophobic (foh-tahg-goh-foh-bick) environment. Yes, I have just invented this word because, after some research, I could not find a suitable word to describe the irrational fear of photography that this museum seemed to have. And as a result, my photography of this museum is, sadly, quite limited.

Ordinary to Extraordinary

Much of the art in this museum was eye-grabbing and playful in nature, especially the Jeff Koons exhibit. I had come at an especially rare time since this was Koons’ first exhibit at MCA in over 10 years. Koons, if you haven’t heard of him, is one of the more well-known artists of the twentieth century. Francesco Bonami, an internationally known curator, writer and critic, has praised Jeff Koons for “embracing the mundane way of life and giving it back to us transformed,” and I have to agree. Much of Koons’ work seemed to take ordinary objects and somehow make them extra-ordinary.

Seriously, would you blame him?

The exhibit contained an impressive array of his work, featuring works from all his series, including Michael Jackson and Bubbles and the possibly more famous Rabbit. A note to those with children though: be advised that there are rather explicit images behind a back wall. There is a notice about this, but you should probably be careful not to let your child wander alone if you’re concerned about this sort of thing. Be advised.

A curious thing I noticed while researching is that there are many pictures of Koons’ famous balloon dog sculpture, and each photo has a different colored dog, sometimes electric pink, bright blue, or neon orange. Call it a blasphemous question, but I wonder: is it possible he’s only made one balloon dog and simply repaints it different colors for different exhibitions?

How many dogs would Koons really have time to make? After seeing the dog in person, I was amazed at the level of fit and finish Koons was able to achieve on the balloon dog’s huge surface. Due to the immense size of these sculptures, I wouldn’t blame him if he changed the paint instead of creating an entirely new aluminum work every time. Would you?

We’ve Entered A New Era

But Koons’ art wasn’t the only art featured in the museum. Many other strange and wonderful creations were to be found on the 2nd floor. Unfortunately, one of the guards regarded me taking a picture with the same severity as if I’d tried to take one of the pieces of art itself, despite the fact that there were no anti-photography notices nearby. Any explanation I could give about the strange and wonderful creations would pale in comparison to any photo I would have been able to show you. I’m sorry, dear reader, I tried. I realize that some artists are extremely possessive about who photographs their work, but in this era of ubiquitous digital photography, it becomes more and more apparent that this policy of “no photos” is fear-based and impractical in the modern age. It’s time to drop fear-based attitudes and embrace sharing and open communication. How can a man who creates such a large blue heart, a universal symbol of love, subscribe to such a fear-based paradigm?

Still Recommended

Despite the terribly bored security guards and disappointingly photogophobic attitude of the institution, I did enjoy this museum, but keep in mind that Koons’ work will most likely not be present when you visit since his work was a temporary exhibit. However, you are sure to see art at the Museum of Contemporary Art that you wouldn’t see anywhere else. I recommend you check it out, but save some money and visit on a Tuesday.

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Photos from this trip are in the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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3. Chicago Field Museum Review: Top 3 Exhibits

I had just returned from Navy Pier and was looking forward to something a bit more exciting and enjoyable than what I’d just seen, and thankfully this is exactly what I found. I’d heard vague mentionings of “a fountain with faces” days before, but this fountain turned out to be much bigger than I expected. When I arrived at the Crown Fountain, I was greeted by two 15 meter tall glass brick towers with a long reflecting pool between them. These were not ordinary towers, however. They glowed, they smiled, and they spouted water.

A Fountain that Unites the People

Dozens of children were playing in the fountain. In fact, the Crown Fountain brought together people of all skin colors, and seeing a rainbow of skin colors was a rather beautiful sight, (even though the blue people didn’t show up… again).

Just 50 years ago, it would have been taboo for these children, whose ancestors came from different continents, to play together without a second thought as they were on that day. I’m exceedingly pleased to see that race continues to be less and less problematic in the 21st century.

The Clever Crown Family

The Crown Fountain was designed by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa. It works by using panels of light-emitting diodes to display digital video of Chicago Residents. The Crown family, who donated most of the $17 million to build the fountain, were especially proactive in the fountain’s construction. They acted independently of Millennium Park officials and conducted independent research of water technologies, held their own design contest, and continued to participate during the construction phase of the fountain.

Out of three finalists, Jaume Plensa won the commission to design the fountain, and I’m sure the kids are glad he did. While Maya Lin’s horizontal fountain design was probably excellent, and Robert Venturi’s 46 meter tall fountain design was monumental — neither of these ideas had the potential for as much interaction, accessibility, and pure fun of Plensa’s interactive video fountain.

Wandering around Downtown Chicago

After observing the fountain for some time, I felt the need to explore the city further and started heading north. As I’ve mentioned before, wandering is a valuable tool in the traveller’s arsenal because it allows spontaneity to enter into the trip and always produces surprises. Like a pigeon snacking on Doritos, for instance.

Coincidentally, I ended up walking near the Trump Tower, which was still in construction, and this gave me an excellent opportunity to make a decent photograph of the building. When I post-processed my photos of the day, I was delighted to see that the photo works quite well in a sepia tone.

In my exploration of the northern parts of downtown Chicago, I also came across a service of some nostalgia: a horse coach service. Drinking troughs for the horses were even built above the sidewalk (with an attached drinking fountain for humans, of course). Seeing horses and cars together on the same road seemed slightly absurd — yet logical at the same time.

Soon after, I found myself on East Chestnut Street again and took that opportunity to photograph the John Hancock Center towering above me. Though the photo looks as though I may have composed it deliberately, I assure you its visual balance is completely accidental.

By this time, I began to get thirsty and remembered there was a McDonald’s nearby. I’m not a fan of McDonald’s “food” at all, so I walked in and ordered the only healthy item on the menu: water. I even took a picture of it, though I may have been suffering from dehydration-induced delirium.

How Powerful is Wandering?

Overall, Monday the 18th turned out to be an excellent time to get my bearings and provided a useful mental map that I used for the rest of my time in Chicago. Turns out that wandering is also a good way to learn a new area. Could the mere practice of wandering be the mind’s natural way to create a mental map of a new place?

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Photos from this trip are in the Crown Fountain – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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2. Have You Seen The Bean? (Chicago Cloud Gate)
3. Is Navy Pier a glorified shopping mall?

• The Sears Tower
• The Bean (aka Cloud Gate)
• Navy Pier
• Crown Fountain
• Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art
• Shedd Aquarium
• Adler Planetarium
• The Field Museum
• Art Institute of Chicago Museum

…as well as check out great places to eat like the Pick Me Up cafe. Clearly, I was rather busy during my week in Chicago, but it was a good kind of busy — the exhilarated kind of busy. Some of these I’ve already written about, and others I will write about in the future. Today I’m going to talk about my third day.

Ye Olde Wrigley Field

On the third day I was in Chicago, I started by walking over to Wrigley Field which was nearby. For those of you who may not be familiar with that strange phenomenon known as American Baseball, Wrigley Field is the home to the Chicago Cubs. At the time (Autumn 2008), it was 92 years old, making it the second oldest active major league ballpark (after Fenway Park in Boston which is 4 years older). The stadium may have been older than 99% of the population of Chicago, but the shiny red, white, and blue Chicago Cubs logo on the side of the stadium looked brand new. I took a photo of it for all the Cubs fans out there. Perhaps it will come in handy as a desktop wallpaper.

After finding out I couldn’t actually go inside to look around without getting a ticket to the ball game that night, I decided to move on; but not before taking a picture of the Ernie Banks statue nearby. From what I hear, Ernie loved baseball like it was going out of style and was known for his catch phrase of, “It’s a beautiful day for a ball game… Let’s play two!”

According to the wiki, in 1955 he set the record for grand slams in a single season with five, and that record stood for over 30 years. Not bad. Even today he holds the record for most extra base hits by a Cub with a whopping 1,009 hits. Ernie is living proof that if you truly love something, you’ll persist at it.

When is a Yacht notta Yacht?

If you haven’t been to Chicago before, you may not know about Chicago’s excellent elevated train and subway system, simply referred to as the “L”, that serves as Chicago’s main form of public transportation. I took the L as close as I could to the pier, but the closest station was still some ways off.

I started walking east to Lake Shore Drive where the lake shore used to begin before humans drastically altered the landscape. When I reached the lake, I noticed a vast array of yachts and sailboats parked on the water. Some cargo ships were docked, as well. One of these cargo ships was called Abegweit, though ironically still read “yacht” near its top, and I wondered how big a ship had to be before it couldn’t be called a yacht anymore. Calling this huge ship a yacht seemed a little silly.

Better to Be A Pirate than to Join the Navy Pier

When I finally arrived at Navy Pier, I was surprised at how huge it was. It reminded me more of a small city than a pier. Unfortunately, Navy Pier turned out to be not much more than a glorified shopping mall, complete with restaurants and souvenir shops. The Children’s Museum sounded interesting, but unfortunately it was not a museum discussing the mysterious origin and meaning of children — it was more like a children’s playground.

Navy Pier started to seem less and less interesting until I found a rather charming indoor park area, complete with palms and jumping water fountains like those found in Disneyland. The entire ceiling was glass, and this let in a wonderful amount of light and created a relaxifying atmosphere.

The Paul Neil Milne Johnstone Park?

Not having the money nor the desire to take a Segway tour of the pier, I left and started walking north. I decided to explore the nearby Milton L. Olive III park. (Side-note: You’d hope that they would name a park after someone with a catchier name, but apparently this was the best they could come up with.) The park was not an excitement-explosion either since the fountains were completely drained and lifeless.

The nearby lookout point was not lifeless, however, and I was very lucky to walk by just as a group of tour bikes arrived. The tour guide had some interesting things to say, but nothing very memorable. Still, it was nice to have a quick chat with some fellow travellers.

Possibly Purchased Property

The patch of possibly purchased piles of sand formed a nice beach nearby, and some people in the shade were creating what looked like Devil’s Tower out of sand. Somehow, Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind seems to rear its head whenever I visit a beach.

As purely an attraction, Navy Pier wasn’t my cup of tea, but from an architectural standpoint, it’s an amazing engineering feat and not a bad place to eat lunch either. I wouldn’t place it in my top 5 favorite places to visit in Chicago, but if you have an extra afternoon, you may want to check it out.

The Future of Navy Pier

In the future, my feelings could change. In 2006, plans were released for a major renovation of the pier which would include a monorail, spokeless Ferris Wheel, a roller coaster, floating hotel, and a water park with a Great Lakes theme. Perhaps there’s hope for this pier yet.

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Photos from this trip are in the Navy Pier album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just like the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers.

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I’m not sure you can be fully prepared to witness the view that awaits you at the 103rd floor. I wasn’t, and as you will see in the photos, I was very lucky: it was a very clear day. After waiting in line and watching a short film about the tower in their small theater, I finally stepped into what should only be described as a super-elevator. Any elevator that goes up to the 103rd floor in just a couple minutes deserves some respect — or at least a cool name. And only when I stepped out onto the Sears Tower Skydeck to see the view from 412 meters up (1353 feet) could I fully appreciate the Sears Tower for what it is: a view like no other.

To extract the most awesomeness out of your Sears Tower experience, there are 7 things you should know before you go:

1. Take untold numbers of photos!
   • And while you’re at it, join the 21st century and use a digital instead of a film camera so you can see how your photos are turning out. Take more photos than you would expect to need, because there are millions of opportunities up there on the 103rd floor. When you get home, some photos you thought turned out great might not be so great after all, and you’ll be glad you have so many photos to choose from.
   
   • Contrary to what some say, NEVER use your camera’s black and white setting. If you want black and white photos, you’re much better off using a piece of software like Photoshop and use a channel mixer adjust later to convert to black and white later. (Or if you want to save some money, you can get Photoshop Elements and find a plugin that will channel mixing, like this one.) Here’s why you want to avoid forcing black and white setting on your camera: when you take a color photo, you essentially get 3 black and white digital photos in one shot — basically 3 value channels that are colored as red, green, and blue. In a program like Photoshop, you can mix the red, green, and blue in the proportions you want and decide whether you want to emphasize red contrast, green contrast, or blue contrast. You get to decide the character of the final black and white photo.
2. Explore the exhibits.
   • At all four sides of the tower are small exhibits that make it easy (well, sort of) to spot some Chicago’s historical and architectural landmarks from that vantage point. There are even some touch-screen computers that offer all of the information in six, count ‘em 6, different languages so visitors of many nationalities can enjoy the exhibits, too.
3. Keep your eye on the sky.
   • Depending on the weather, your visibility can be anywhere from zero to over 40 miles. Your experience will hinge on how far you can see. Obviously if the air is more clear, your view will be more breathtaking. The sexy thing about this perspective (which is likely the highest you’ll ever be while in a legal state of mind) is that when the sky is clear, you can see four different states: Illinois (duh), Michigan, Indiana, and Cheeseconsin… Wisconsin.
   • While the Skydeck does have some binocular-like tools available to the public, you may want to bring your own binoculars if you’re a germaphobe. I’m not sayin… I’m just sayin’.
4. Be smart with crowds.
   • The Sears Tower has plenty of traffic year round, but there will be significantly more people on weekends. So if you’re very antisocial, or you just want to minimize your waiting time, go on a weekday after 5 P.M. to avoid the crowds as much as possible.
5. Notice the subtleties, the things other people miss.
   • Keep in mind this may be the only time you visit the lovely Sears Tower, so take this moment to appreciate it. Try to spot a touring ferry in the Chicago River. Feel the way that the building sways if it happens to be windy that day. Look out and try to see where Illinois ends and Indiana or Wisconsin begins.
6. LOOK DOWN!
   • Like in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! From the skydeck, you’re 412 meters (1,353 feet) in the air. Most people are wimps afraid to look down, but looking down is the only way to fully appreciate how high you are.
   • Some people brag about leaning over the railing to look down, but I say that’s nothing. If you really want added thrill (not to mention bragging rights), lean your head on the surface the glass like Cameron does in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. See how tiny everything looks. Tell them the Byteful Traveller gave you permission. Actually don’t. You never read this. It was YOUR idea, I swear!
7. Appreciate the marvelousness of what you’re seeing.
   • The Sears Tower is an engineering marvel that would have been impossible to build a hundred years ago. The Sears Tower provides a view greater beyond any bird’s of the marvelous web of interaction and exchange known as Chicago. Take the time to really enjoy your view from the highest observation point in Chicago, one of the great cities of the planet.

All kinds of info about hours, directions, parking, and many other details are available on the official (though somewhat basic) Sears Tower Skydeck site.

Are You asking for a Challenge?!

Whatever you do, promise me you’ll push yourself to be a little more adventurous on your next trip than your last. Pushing your own, self-imposed, limits results in a more enjoyable trip, and you’ll be glad you did. Travelling, when done right, spurs big time growth.

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Photos from this trip are in the Sears Tower – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

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This is my kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town. Chicago is
My kind of people too,
People who smile at you!

~ Frank Sinatra

That’s what Frank Sinatra had to say about Chicago, but don’t let the song deceive you. There may not actually be a higher incidence of smiles here, Chicago is a town of many delights and a rich history.

Over 100 years before I was born, Chicago was founded near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. In 1837, Chicago incorporated as a city and soon became a major transportation hub in North America as well as the transportation, financial, and industrial center of the Midwest United States. Today, the city attracts 44.2 million visitors annually.

Welcome to Chicago’s Front Lawn

About 171 years after the city incorporated, I set foot into Chicago for the first time. Quite appropriately, the first place I visited was Grant Park, and in retrospect I can’t think of a better place to begin since it’s frequently referred to as the city’s front yard. What better place to start than the front yard?

As I walked into Grant Park, I saw a huge fountain in the distance, and I could also hear the sound of jets flying overhead. Near the fountain, someone was selling T-shirts to raise money for a fountain restoration project. He told me that this was Buckingham Fountain, one of the most popular landmarks of the city. Although the fountain was showing some wear, it was still quite beautiful. Little did I know that in a few hours hence, I would be seeing it from the tallest office building in North America.

Later, I found out that Buckingham Fountain, first opened in 1927, is actually one of the largest fountains in the world and is composed of Georgia pink marble. And I’m glad I arrived when I did, because just a few weeks after my visit, Buckingham Fountain closed for renovation and restoration of its deteriorated infrastructure. It’s nice to see that Chicago takes good care of its city monuments.

Unexpected Hornets

After snapping a few carefully composed photos of the fountain, I crossed the street to find the legendary Cloud Gate sculpture, otherwise known as “The Bean” of Chicago. I allowed myself to wander and, with a little help from some kind Chicagoans, soon found Millennium Park — all the while hearing the sound of jets in the distance. As I was exploring the park, I stopped at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion, Millennium Park’s outdoor performing arts venue. Although no one was performing at the time, people seemed to be enjoying themselves on the pavilion’s vast green lawn.

Suddenly, I finally saw the source of the sound that I’d been hearing all this time as the US Navy’s Blue Angels soared high in the sky overhead. Someone had told me that the annual Chicago Air and Water show was today, so I felt like I arrived in Chicago just in time. My 10X optical zoom came in handy when all four FA-18 Hornets took a steep nosedive while maintaining a diamond formation. I was lucky; the weather was clear and the visibility was excellent. The Blue Angels even left a vertical loop of contrail in the sky before disappearing behind some clouds.

Seeing the Cloud Gate (aka The Bean)

Once the Blue Angels disappeared, I continued looking around for the famed Bean sculpture. Although it’s 33 feet tall and weighs 110 short tons (nearly 100,000 Kg!), it’s actually surprisingly easy to miss, and I’ve talked to people who have visited Chicago before and never even heard of The Bean, which is a shame. Once again I relied on the kindness of Chicagoans and was soon pointed in the right direction.

And lo, the Great Cloud Gate of Chicago was soon before me — a huge, polished steel sculpture, warping and bending light all around it. The sun was glaring off its perfectly polished surface, and the light of the clear blue sky was perfect for photography.

The Cloud Gate, more commonly referred to as “The Bean”, is the most visited structure in Chicago, and for good reason: it’s huge, it’s interactive, and it’s beautiful. The Bean is almost like a toy, but instead of you playing with it, it plays with light. Perhaps Kapoor, the creator of Cloud Gate, said it best:

“What I wanted to do in Millennium Park is make something that would engage the Chicago skyline… so that one will see the clouds kind of floating in, with those very tall buildings reflected in the work. And then, since it is in the form of a gate, the participant, the viewer, will be able to enter into this very deep chamber that does, in a way, the same thing to one’s reflection as the exterior of the piece is doing to the reflection of the city around.”

~ Anish Kapoor

If you’re going to visit Chicago, please don’t miss opportunity to play with The Bean. Just imagine how fascinated your friends will be when you bring back pictures of this incredible sculpture.

You can say, “I’ve been to The Bean! Have you?”

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Photos from this trip are in the Grant Park – Chicago album. All photos in the Byteful Gallery can be used as desktop wallpapers because they are high resolution (1920×1440) just as the fullscreen & widescreen wallpapers are.

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2. Is Navy Pier a glorified shopping mall?
3. Denver’s City Park Jazz Review (& The Haunted Prismatic Electric Fountain)