The Bean's Nocturnal Gleaming by Chipka
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Description
Chicago—for all of its attempts to hide from its colorful past—is a city of wonders. One simply has to look for them and ignore all that Chicago says of itself presently. There are histories in this city, hidden in plain sight, there are stories—including bona fide ghost stories—and an entire invisible history: invisible as it’s also subterranean. Literally. That’s all without taking the tunnels under Lake Michigan into account.
I wasn’t thinking about Chicago history when I took a picture of the bean at night. I was—instead—looking at the Prudential Building, and remembering stories of how (once) it had been the tallest building in the world. That didn’t last long. Just look at the buildings around it and you’ll see that it’s just…well…the Prudential Building. It’s nice…but it’s little.
I stopped thinking about the Prudential Building when I caught a glimpse of The Cloud Gate…(Oh heck, I’m from Chicago, so why be pretentious and snooty and call it by its real name when I can call it by its Chicago name: da Bean?) Anyway, I stopped thinking about older skyscrapers when I caught a glimpse of a gigantic, metallic legume—the non-edible, highly reflective kind. It looked pretty frikkin’ good. It looked like an updated version of the sort of spaceship that Klaatu and Gort would have flown around in, somewhere before the opening credits of yet another remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still. (There’s the Keanu Reeves version that I haven’t seen…but hey, at least the soundtrack as about 3 seconds of Theremin music hidden somewhere beneath the bombastic acoustic parade of musical clichés, but that’s a rant for another post.) At any rate, da Bean looked really intriguing. It looked truly abstract. It looked alien. Like a small spaceship…or at least an urban excursion module.
The night whispered with clumps of fog; it was blown in from the lake. The city’s skyscrapers broke wakes in the fog: a phenomenon I’d captured once with my camera, but wasn’t quick enough to recapture. But as I said, it was da Bean at night that really drew my eye. It was da Bean at night that got me to thinking of Klaatu and Gort: the non-human man and robot duo made famous in The Day the Earth Stood Still, and in thinking of them, I captured what I could of what should—in some celluloid reality—have been their arrival.
As I snapped this capture, careful to not capture my own reflection, I thought of the line uttered by Patricial Neal, as she had to summon help from Gort, the alien robot with the laser-emitting eye. Michael Rennie’s character, Klaatu, was in a bit of a fix and Patricia Neal's character was instructed to utter the phrase: "Klaatu barada nikto” in order to keep Gort from vaporizing her with his 1950s-style auto-defense bad guy zapper.
I uttered those words as I snapped this capture. I thought use them as a title, but "Klaatu barada nikto" is a bit too iconic. George Lucas beat me to the punch in terms of stealing those words, anyway: the Star Wars universe boasts a rather intriguing alien race with Klaatu, Barada, and Nikto as its three dominant ethnicities. It’s kinda hard to beat that, so I just stuck with a more mundane title.
As always, thank you for viewing, reading, and commenting and I hope you’re all having a great week. Oh, and by the way, Corey is doing well; and as I type this, he’s hard at work, dozing off in his comfy chair.
Comments (23)
RodS
Man, if I ever make it to Chicago, I'll be a couple hours shooting this thing from every possible angle, in every possible lighting condition. It's just so cool! Now, that is truly wierd..... For some bizarre reason I was thinking about the old (original) DTESS movie on the way home from work this evening.... Excellent photo, Chip!
beachzz
Klaatu barada nikto--omigosh, does that bring back memories. I loved that movie, saw it when I was, well, younger, and highly impressionable. We ran around using that phrase for months afterwards! I love this shot of the Bean--it is otherwordly and very sci-fi. Looks as though it could either take off, or unload its crew of strange aliens.
bimm3d
gorgeous image with great POV!!!
Wolfmanw
Gorgeous Capture I love this
CrownPrince
Ohh you naughty man! You arent supposed to tell our secrets!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!! This is such an amazing capture!! And your story just takes you to another world!! Speaking of Chicago's secrets, did you know we had the most expensive and exclusive brothel in the United States?
helanker
OHHH !! HOw I love this capture. This copper colored shining reflecting bean is simply awesome and you really did a beautiful job. I like the story around it alot, as I usually do.
kgb224
Stunning capture my friend.
durleybeachbum
FABULOSO pic!!! I never saw the film but that phrase is certainly memorable. Loved your musings of course!!
lick.a.witch
I loved that film. And I'm happy to say I let the remake slip passed. Why do they take a classic and try to 'better' it? I rarely works! Smashing image Chip. Smashing narrative too. ^=^
faroutsider
I think the alien bean is smiling at it speaks to you...
MrsRatbag
Yes, I think you should just go to the bean every night and take shots from all kinds of angles; this is just stunning!
CaressingTheDark
beautiful shot of The Bean
Meisiekind
Marvelous Chip! And as always - your words were most entertaining! ps - The chances are VERY good that I might visit the US between late Jan and early Mar next year and Chicago is on the list!!!! Will keep you posted!
sandra46
excellent, intriguing image!
Sepiasiren
Sometimes I just don't know about you--when I think you couldn't possibly match your last landscape piece in mood, texture and atmosphere you go and top yourself! Will you stop that? LOL... Man this is amazing--I feel the urge to reach out and touch...all the awe inspired wonder you felt that provoked you to capture this image is transformed masterfully into this image--a new fave and a hearty bravo...
KatesFriend
I am really impressed by the reflectivity of this sculpture. It's hard to believe that one could get such clarity from an object out in the open within a major urban and industrialized city. Yet there it is. The curvature neatly capturing an exquisite (though admittedly distorted) panorama of the great city. And oh, the deep rich colours of electric excitation. Beautiful shot and a lovely narrative to accompany it. You always set a thoughtful mood with your writing.
danapommet
Magical look at the Bean at night. Looks so different with the bronze color and super reflection. Dana
minos_6
My first thought on seeing this capture was "The aliens have landed". You've captured this fascinating sculpture perfectly. This is the second time I've seen an image of this alien artifact in your gallery, and on both occasions your own reflection seems not to appear where I would have expected it. "Other-worldly" indeed....
flavia49
wonderful image!! fabulous lights and pOV!!
myrrhluz
I love the Bean! It is one of the many reasons I am determined to go back to Chicago. There were two things Leslie and I left undone the time we were there. (Actually there were a million things, but two in particular, in regards to the Bean.) One we couldn't help. The Bean was being cleaned and the underside was blocked off. We also never saw it at night. I can't explain that one. Just a lapse of thought. I love this shot! It looks like it is floating just above the pavement, or maybe flowing like a giant metallic blob to engulf that figure walking so perilously close. Gorgeous color and lights! I love the way the buildings and the clouds reach into the black sky in the reflection. Excellent light and darkness of the Bean against the golden glow of the surrounding buildings and sky. Wonderful image and as always, I enjoyed your narrative tremendously.
MagikUnicorn
LOVE THIS...REMARQUABLE CAPTURE
Ilona-Krijgsman
awesome reflections and glow....you are so good in that
praep
Fabulous shot, i like the alien-look and the reflections very much.