today josh and i visited the excellent art institute of chicago, where we happened to stumble upon “a sunday afternoon on the island of la grande jatte” by georges-pierre seurat. of course, we don’t know this painting because we are art connoisseurs, but from the montage in “ferris bueller’s day off” (which, in my opinion, is one of the greatest movies ever made). we took a series of photos that mimicked the scene in the movie - cameron frye stands in front of this painting and focuses on a little girl in the scene. the camera cuts back and forth from his blue eyes to the little girl, with increasingly closer shots, until the girl is nothing but a series of painted dots, and his eyes are totally spaced-out and sad. it’s an extremely short but very memorable part of the movie.
That’s strange, I don’t ever remember seeing the back of someone’s head in the pointillism painting by Georges Seurat. Must be a commissioned piece.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte
Georges Seurat’s A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte ….. and me!
Lydia in a Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte
They support Chicago, and Chicago supports them.
anyone in chicago need a job? →
this place is a couple blocks from my apartment and is pretty tasty. seems like it’d be a legit place to work.
This is Gacy, John Wayne Gacy jr.
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, the second of three children, to John Wayne Gacy, Sr. (June 20, 1900 – December 25, 1969), a machinist, and Marion Elaine Robinson (May 4, 1908 – December 14, 1989). Cook County marriage records provide his mother’s name as Marion E. Robertson. He had a troubled relationship with his father, an alcoholic who was physically abusive and repeatedly called his son a “sissy”. He was close to his sisters and mother, who affectionately called him “Johnny”. When Gacy was 11, he was struck on the forehead by a swing. The resulting head trauma formed a blood clot in his brain that went unnoticed until he was 16, when he began to suffer blackouts. He was prescribed medication to dissolve the clot. He was later convicted and later executed for the rape and murder of 33 boys and young men between 1972 and his arrest in 1978, 27 of whom he buried in a crawl space under the floor of his house, while others were found in nearby rivers. He became notorious as the “Killer Clown” because of the many block parties he threw for his friends and neighbors, entertaining children in a clown suit and makeup, under the name of “Pogo the Clown”.
THOUGHT: Maybe this is why Bruce Nauman’s Clown Torture is in a permanent collection in Chicago?
Be as smug and conceited as you want, boy. You worked hard for it, especially in your cute little purple sweater. Watching him on “Live at the Chicago Theatre” was heartbreaking, especially when he performed Hey Mama. I’d love to see him live. I know it’d be an amazing show.
A striking night view of Chicago in 1931
(Tribune archive photo)A striking night view of Chicago at night in 1931, with the Merchandise Mart at left.
Public Art Blog
Hyde and I are having trouble coming up with a name for our public art blog, an idea suggested by Michael. The purpose of this post is twofold: first, Tumblr is good with the clever, so bring it. We need title ideas. Second, we’d love for this project to expand beyond Chicago and L.A (and beyond us within those cities). Folks should email or comment if they’re interested.
