The tiled mosaic floor in the lobby of the JR Thompson Center has a beautiful black and white pattern. Normally this place is crawling with people, but we decided to go on a cold weekend day when we were sure not many people would be there. We wanted the floor to ourselves, and with the exception of some onlookers, we were able to capture these images without much trouble or interference. Go to the JR Thompson Center and check it out for yourself, or scroll these images for our take on how to view the floor.
The longer you look at an object, the more abstract it becomes, and, ironically, the more real. -Lucian Freud
May 23, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: floor, JR Thompson Center, Lucian Freud, mosaic tile, pattern | 1 Comment »
We’re taking art out of the museums again, and in order to start pushing this idea a little further, we’re going to start incorporating other people. We hope to get to a point where we can expose people to these pieces in the museum as well as strangers on the street outside of the museums. Let us know if you’d like to join in! Our goal is to simply make people aware of the art around them and inform them enough to start a conversation. The geometric shapes found here were part of an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art in September of 2010. We then decided to find these shapes around the city- whether in sculpture at the Being Born piece by Virginio Ferrari or in architecture and signage on Chicago Avenue. These simple geometric shapes can be found everywhere, but what is interesting to us is to document them and compare the different sizes, environments, colors, weight and uses. We’ve found that comparisons make very intriguing art and evoke much conversation. That’s all we want: awareness and conversation.
Art is not what you see, but what you make others see. -Edgar Degas
May 23, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Being Born sculpture, Chicago, Chicago Ave, circle, Edgar Degas, geometric shapes, Museum of Contemporary Art, triangle, Virginio Ferrari | 1 Comment »
A photo shoot inspired by the 1968 movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. We like to find inspiration in all sorts of places- current and past. And who doesn’t like to dress up every once in a while? Keep your eye out- more movie inspiration to come!
Truly Scrumptious: What an unusual car.
Jeremy: Daddy made it.
Truly Scrumptious: [laughs] Oh? And it actually goes?
Jemimah: It’s called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
Truly Scrumptious: That’s a curious name for a motorcar.
Jemimah: But that’s the sound it makes. Listen.
May 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, movies | 2 Comments »
There is something refreshing about not being able to discern everything in a photograph. It forces you to to see the image as a combination of shape, form, color, line, space, value, and texture. You can only judge it simply on the elements of art it contains, not by what the photography actually shows.
For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream. -Van Gogh
May 18, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: dream, lens flare, nighttime, River North, sight of stars, unfocused light, Vincent Van Gogh | 6 Comments »
Here is another piece of art from the Next/Art Chicago show at the Merchandise Mart by Takeshi Moro. The piece was titled Pedestal for Apology, because facing the image was a pedestal with places for your hands, feet, and forehead in the position of bowing. Next to the installation it explained, “The installation Pedestal for Apology evolved out of a series in which Moro asked individuals to enact the traditional Japanese bow of apology in the environment of their choosing while contemplating the reason for such an apology.” Takeshi Moro was quoted saying, “The simple bowing gesture, raised to an iconic level, is meant to frame ideas of humility and forgiveness for whoever takes the opportunity to perform this act.”
We decided to take this gesture out to the streets of Chicago- a busy intersection at that. We thought it would be interesting to use similar colors in a different environment while being exposed to the public. Where would you bow? What would you be apologizing for?
There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. – Emerson
May 15, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Art Chicago, Bowing, Emerson, Japan, Merchandise Mart, Next, Pedestal for Apology, Red Eye, Takeshi Moro | Leave A Comment »
Have you ever thought about how everything you do can be seen as art? That your life can be, and is, art? Even something as simple as going up a flight of stairs or shopping for groceries can be art- the food you choose, what you make with it, how you eat it. Art doesn’t have to be obvious, beautiful, or understood.
I think everything in life is art. What you do, how you dress, the way you love someone, and how you talk. Your smile and your personality, what you believe in and all your dreams. The way you drink your coffee. How you decorate your home, or party. Your grocery list, the food you make, how your writing looks. And the way you feel. Life is art.
May 14, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: grocery list, grocery shopping, letter sweater, Lincoln Park, Whole foods | Leave A Comment »
Since, for the most part stairs are usually seen as a means of getting from point A to point B, we thought we’d share with you the beauty behind them. Sometimes it only takes an object being presented to you in a new way for you to start noticing it.
As one gets older one sees many more paths that could be taken. Artists sense within their own work that kind of swelling of possibilities, which may seem a freedom or a confusion.
-Jasper Johns
May 14, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: "L", Brown line, Chicago, Jasper Johns, Purple line, stairs | Leave A Comment »
Just a few shots from a walk down Michigan Avenue to hear Chip Kidd give a talk at Columbia College. An ornate doorway, a pattern of stairs, and the sunlight at dusk.
Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything that is beautiful… – RW Emerson
May 8, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Chip Kidd, Columbia College, dusk, Emerson, light, Michigan Avenue, shadows, stairs | 2 Comments »
About a week ago we attended the Next and Art Chicago shows at the Merchandise Mart in River North. This metal, shadow type by Fred Eerdekens definitely caught our eye and made us stop and really look at the way an object can cast a shadow that is both interesting and different from the object itself. We decided to take this away from the show and onto the streets of Chicago- studying the way a shadow changes as its object moves about and observing the shadows we pass on a daily basis.
The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery. – Francis Bacon
May 7, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Art Chicago, Francis Bacon, Fred Eerdekens, Merchandise Mart, Next show Chicago, shadow, shadow type, typography | Leave A Comment »
As a follow-up to our previous museum post
(here), we wanted to take the same concept and push it a little further. This time we took the poses and pieces of art found inside the museum and moved them out elsewhere in the city. We were curious about whether the same pose would evoke the same emotion and thought if taken into a different environment. What do you think? Leave us a comment and let us know!
We don’t want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words- to be united with beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. -C.S. Lewis
April 30, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Art Institute Chicago, bridge, C.S. Lewis, J.R. Thompson Center, Jackson Polluck, Matisse, museum, stairs | 1 Comment »
Trying to find a new way to look at art can be challenging. Sometimes one must just admire it and try not to think too much about it- just take it in and let it be whatever it needs to be for you. Thinking often gets in the way. Let the art speak for itself.
Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It is self-conscious, and anything self-conscious is lousy. You can’t try to do things. You simply must do things. -Ray Bradbury
April 30, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: art, Art Institute Chicago, creativity, double, literature, marble, photography, ray bradbury, statues, twins | Leave A Comment »
We found this open, empty room at the Art Institute of Chicago and thought it seemed very stark and cold. Everyone seemed to pass by and not go in, so we thought we would try and make the room a little more interesting. We also didn’t know that you’re not allowed to dance around in the museum, so we only managed to grab a few shots before getting into a bit of trouble. Here’s to being a little adventurous in order to create a piece of art.
From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines. -Walt Whitman
April 30, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Art Institute Chicago, Dance, empty room, imaginary lines, literature, loos'd of limits, photography, Walk Whitman | Leave A Comment »
This post is one we are very excited to share with you. Partly because we had a lot of fun creating these images, and partly because we love to be inspired by other artists. Our thought process here was an attempt to recreate what is seen in the museum, but to create it live in front of the other spectators. Needless to say, people were interested, confused, and curious, but nevertheless their thoughts were provoked and their eyes were seeing these pieces in a new way. We hope the art and architecture in these images does the same for you. Stay tuned for more museum posts!
Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: where as if you simply tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will- nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. -C.S. Lewis
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: art, Art Institute Chicago, art museum, Chicago, Chicago art, CS Lewis, Degas, literature, O'Keefe, Rothko, Titian | 1 Comment »
For this series we split the images into two posts, because although we did the same thing the images turned out very differently. Same prop, same environment, different subject. We never really know what to expect or what the result will be- we just take images. The spontaneity of the creation is what energizes us and the unpredictable result is what inspires us. So here is a look at part two.
Everything around us, dead or alive, in the eyes of a crazy photographer mysteriously takes on many variations, so that a seemingly dead object comes to life through light or by its surrounding. And if the photographer has a bit of sense in his head maybe he is able to capture some of this- and I suppose that’s lyricism. -Josef Sudek
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Chicago, eyebrows, Josef Sudek, light, native | Leave A Comment »
Sometimes the simplest changes or additions to what is normal and expected can make a big impact. It makes you look twice and wonder what criteria people give for calling something interesting, beautiful, and art.
Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream by night. -Edgar Allen Poe
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: circus, clown, dream, Edgar Allen Poe, literature, nice dream, nightmare, Radiohead | Leave A Comment »
Cooped up inside again. Funny how just running down the stairs can produce a series of images that create an engaging, offbeat pattern.
Trust only movement. Life happens at the level of event, not of words. Trust movement. -Alfred Adler
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Alfred Adler, escher, inception, stairs, stairway, transition | Leave A Comment »
Fascinating how the snow just slips away when a little light hits it. The glow is pretty mesmerizing and we wanted to share that with you.
Why am I afraid to dance, I who love music and rhythm and grace and song and laughter? Why am I afraid to live, I who love life and the beauty of flesh and living colors of the earth and sky and sea? Why am I afraid to love, I who love love? – the play The Great God Brown by Eugene O’Neill
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Chicago, Chicago blizzard 2011, Chicago winter, Eugene O'Neill, girl in snow, snow, The Great God Brown, theatre, winter wonderland | Leave A Comment »
You can sit there and complain about having to trudge through the snow everyday, or you can lay in it. We chose the latter. By all means, don’t be cautious. Now is the time.
Be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should…with all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. -Max Ehrmann
April 22, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: bed of snow, blizzard, Chicago, Chicago blizzard 2011, Chicago winter, Max Ehrmann, snow, snow carpet | Leave A Comment »
It’s still freezing outside, so we’ve taken our endeavors indoors once again and added some props. A few good lights and a bow later, we have some wonderfully weird images!
She’s not a girl who misses much.
She’s well acquainted with the touch of a velvet hand.
Like a lizard on a window pane. – Happiness is a Warm Gun, the Beatles
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: beatles, bow, hair do, hair pieces, hair style, happiness is a warm gun | Leave A Comment »
Sometimes you’re tired and sometimes you’re uninspired. It happens to all of us. When this happens, just look around and challenge yourself. We try and turn every object and every environment into a place to make art. Take this cream curtain, for example. Who says it can’t make for a fascinating image? Take one shot, take it again, string them together, make a pattern, create a story.
I want to unfold. I don’t want to stay folded anywhere, because where I am folded, there I am a lie. And I want my grasp of things true before you, I want to describe myself like a painting that I looked at closely for a long time, like a saying that I finally understood, like the pitcher I use every day, like the face of my mother, like a ship that took me safely through the wildest storm of all. – Rainer Maria Rilke
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: absalom, alice in wonderland, change, Rainer Maria Rilke, seasons, spin, turn, twirl | Leave A Comment »
Some wintry eyes trying to bear the cold in Wisconsin. Just for fun.
Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see. -Paul Klee
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: eyes, Paul Klee, snow, winter | Leave A Comment »
Meet our blog dog- Gunner!
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: blizzard 2011, dog, play in snow, snow, winter | Leave A Comment »
The blizzard of 2011 hit with a vengeance and we reaped the benefits. Well, not without a little frostbite. For this shoot we juxtaposed feminine details and whimsical poses with heavy architecture and a huge mountain of snow. Strange contrasts and a new environment always pique our interest. Keep warm!
In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. -Albert Camus
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: blizzard, Chicago, Chicago blizzard 2011, city, snow, winter | Leave A Comment »
We were walking around downtown Chicago one day and came across this staircase. We didn’t plan on taking pictures here, but sometimes things like this just happen: you find something great and beautiful that a lot of people just don’t see. We think you just have to stop and notice every once in a while. We’re trying to give you a little glimpse of what we see.
Look for something, find something else, and realize that what you’ve found is more suited to your needs than what you thought you were looking for. – Lawrence Block
April 17, 2011 | Categories: photography | Tags: Chicago, hot and cold, Lawrence Block, stairs, winter | Leave A Comment »
