Imagine every time you open a new Chrome tab, you get a new work of art. The Art Institute of Chicago’s Google extension, Art Tab, places a random image from their giant collection into every new Chrome browser tab. Very much like Google Arts & Culture. Except, the Art Institute’s image doesn’t fill the entire …
Art Institute’s Art Tab highlights from January 2020 Read More »
I’d like to stand outside an art museum with a xerox machine, offering pedestrians the opportunity to make their own xerox selfie. All day long, visitors look at art behind glass. Give these visitors a chance to have a memorable, intimate portrait of their own face pressed upon a glass—the glass of a Xerox machine. …
I’m brainstorming ways of describing art museum guards. Art museum security guard Art protector Gallery attendant Law enforcement Museum access control Museum patrol Museum protector Observer of visitors Parcel inspector Policy enforcer Preventer of suspicious actions Preventer of touching Proper propriety maintainer Property guard Protection services officer Security Security officer Vandalism deterrent My favorite might …
Ever come across a fun or interesting security guard at an art museum? Here’s my encounter with a security guard at the Art Institute of Chicago sharing her love of tiny details of paintings, encouraging visitors to get closer to the artworks. After spending about ten minutes with a post-impressionist painting, over to the right …
I have a long-standing goal of whenever I see a xerox machine in a public place, to scan my face. My wife and I did one on our honeymoon in France. The copy machine was tucked away in the back of a Monoprix supermarket in Avignon while we were picking up some food storage containers. …
Whenever you see a Xerox machine in a public place, xerox your face Read More »
A few days ago I xeroxed my face on our copier at work. The scanning bed was left open, and was just begging for something fun to be done. I did one copy of my face, then I grabbed a coworker and we each did one. Decades ago, this was classic way of having fun …
The Impressionist painters are known for their atmospheric treatment of scenes, loose brushwork that takes precedence over lines and contours. Yet in the midst of the Impressionism galleries in the Art Institute of Chicago stands a painting with strong lines and contours. “An Elegant Woman at the Élysée Montmartre (Élégante à l’Élysée Montmartre)“, 1888, by …
Discovering Cloisonnism and the incredible French artist Louis Anquetin Read More »
If you had to pick a pair of shoes that personifies you, what shoes would they be? Artist Vicky Tesmer created a series of fine watercolors depicting a variety of Chicagoans wearing their shoes. This exhibit, “Portrait of Chicago” is up in the Chicago Cultural Center until January 10, 2020. Rappers, students, surgeons, nurses, businessmen, …
Sometimes when I go errand shopping at Target, I’ll photograph the contents of my bag at the self checkout. It’s fun seeing the collection of the stuff you regularly pick up. Fun to me anyways. I should photograph the inside of our fridge some day. I’d love to see a photograph of the inside of …
Photographing the inside of our shopping bags and refrigerators Read More »
I love you, Artforum. But I do have a little bit of a funny thing. It’s hilarious how this Artforum headline appears in all caps in Google News. All the other publishers use a standard title case or AP/Chicago/MLA style. But Artforum, the long-time traditional art magazine, has this headline appear as all caps. You …
Most times your five-year-old iPhone works just fine as a camera. Today, I stepped off my train, and I looked up, the sunset nearly knocked me over. Whoa! So intense! I grabbed my iPhone from my pocket and snapped a few pics. Even though my iPhone 5s is well over five years old, it still …
