
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 1000 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"
Теги: 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