Crown Fountain - Millenium Park, Chicago

Artist Jaume Plensa's fountain installation in Millenium Park, Chicago, seen on a rainy afternoon, walking around beneath an umbrella.

This is a peek at Crown Fountain in a relatively visitor-free moment: many more people gather around and splash in the water when the weather's nicer.

From the Millenium Park website:

"The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out. Plensa adapted this practice by having faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and having water flow through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents.

"The fountain, which anchors the southwest corner of Millennium Park at Michigan Avenue and Monroe Streets, is a favorite of both children and families. The water is on from mid-spring through mid-fall each year (weather permitting,) while the images remain on year-round.

"A fountain is the memory of nature, this marvelous sound of a little river in the mountains translated to the city. For me, a fountain doesn't mean a big jet of water. It means humidity, the origin of life.
-Jaume Plensa"

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• Crown
• Fountain
• Chicago
• Illinois
• Public
• Art
• Video
• installation
• Water
• People
• Grant
• Millenium
• Park
• Cloud
• Gate
• Jaume
• Plensa
• Barcelona
• Spanish
• Paris
• block
• tower
• towers
• faces
• population
• LED
• film
• personality
• symbol
• symbolism
• community
• reflection
• pool

[Nachoking19961]

CREEPY.

[randumguy100]

i want my face on this!

[ovcharenko44]

супер!

[nlosborne]

This is awesome

[Zareste]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[m00ph00]

too weirdo for me

[Beatnikzombie]

John Lennon did a piece called Smile in the 70's. This is a direct rip off of that piece. I still like it. It's pretty cool. He just should get credit for the original concept.