I know right? It's such a beautiful shot and shows off negative space and is also a stark difference from the view in daylight. I could picture a photo of that at night with a photo of the same view durring the day in an art exhibit.
Sara, this video was amazing. And as a resident of Chicago, I am so happy to know about many places to see art that I did not even know existed before. Thank you for your amazing work.
+Josh Shpayher Thank you! Chicago is such a great city, and lucky you that you get to live there. There's so much excellent art there, and it's always rotating. Enjoy it for me.
I live in chicago, and as an artist, I love it here. From the busy city filled with amazing art and architecture, to the quiet suburbs filled with Victorian homes and barking dogs. Illinois is an amazing state to live in and to be creative in.
Sarah! I work at the Smart Museum. I'm glad you enjoyed it--the education department there does a great job asking thoughtful questions on the placards that accompany the art. Come back in the summer time and see all the wonderful outdoor art we have downtown (and the murals in Pilsen!).
This just reminds me why The Art Assignment is the greatest show on RU-vid. Every episode makes me feel like making something, traveling somewhere or just going out and take the world inn! Thank you!!
I'm really loving this series. There's not much art available here and I can't afford to travel. I use the internet to view museum collections and enjoy visiting them through Art Assignment eyes. Thank you!
I am so thrilled that you did an Art Trip to Chicago. My friends and I are planning to go for a weekend trip to go to the Lyric Opera, we were just last night talk about what else we wanted to do!! Thank You so much for the ideas!!
I just got back from my trip to Chicago from Indianapolis yesterday :) My mom and I went to the Art Institute and saw their Vincent Van Gogh exhibition about his bedroom paintings. It was so fascinating! I loved seeing some of the same views I saw on my drive up and back in this video.
So much art in one place! We recently went to Chicago for The Brain Scoop exhibit opening. I was so sad that we didn't get to go to the art museum next door, and I now know how many other places we miss out on too.
You have to come back to Chicago but not in the winter! You obviously did not have a good experience and it shows. I have enjoyed every other episode except this one. It's so sad because I live in Chicago. Not visiting the Art Institute is sacrilegious, but you also missed a lot, including Zhou B Gallery in Bridgeport, the National Museum of Mexican Art, the Fine Arts Building (which you were not far from), all the galleries on Superior downtown...and the food! I hope you come back!
my dorm is next to the smart museum she was in my back yard practically! i wish i coulda ran into her. oh well. thanks for showing me places I didn't know were so near me. now its art trip every weekend!
I am so so glad you make the 'Art Trip' videos. I used to live in DC and the previous episode made me nostalgic; the Chicago episode made me realize I should go visit again... I am curious as to which location you will highlight next, love these videos and something I always look forward to. So thank YOU.
LOVE this little vloggy episode :) it was really nice as an SAIC undergrad to see my professors and hear more about the art scene in the city I'm attending college in!
The Art Assignment It was awesome! I was surprised you didn't go to The Art Institute but that would have been the most obvious and predictable place to go to if you are a tourist so yay for divergence :) There are so many places to find great art here that ultimately it doesn't matter where you go.
I pass by the wind turbines at night from time to time and love it. I always imagine that loud bass-y music from movies and I sync it in time with the blinking lights. It reminds me of an alien invasion because you just see hundreds of these floating lights that look like they're coming out of the sky all lighting up simultaneously. Its a creepy synchronization.
I love this Art Trip series, especially how you include restaurants and lesser-known galleries. You've inspired me to write about my travels to museums for a blog. Do you let institutions know you'll be coming and filming in advance? How much research do you do before hand?
Great video as always. Love seeing all of the places one can visit in a certain city. Next time I'm in Chicago i'll be sure to check some of these institutions out
Amazing!! I really connected with the existentialist art you shared - I think about existentialism a lot, plus I'm re-reading The Stranger for my literature class. I've gotta see how long that exhibit will be open, I'd really love to see it! Thank you for sharing!!
+Alexia Hatun You really should try to see it! But if you can't they are publishing a book with it that you could get your hands on. It's not the same thing as seeing the art in person, but it is some consolation!
The Stony Island Arts Bank looks like a wonderful adaptive reuse project! The magazine/book collection room, with its wall of rough books matching the rough structure, looks especially engaging. Seems like it was a packed and exciting trip, thanks for sharing it, and especially for sharing Assaf's pointer on boredom. It reminded me that it is from boredom that imagination springs forth... faced with nothing it creates. Maybe I should get myself bored more often. :) And, maybe visit those wind turbines -- their lights at the end were strangely mesmerizing!
would be curious to see how much of this is still there today post pandemic. Lived in chicago many years ago, loved it, love that city. Went back for the first time in over 20 years last year. Lots of change. Was surprised how much was gone and affects of pandemic.
Thanks for introducing me to some fascinating places in my own city, just in time for my own family's spring break stay-cation! We visit the MCA and the Art Institute several times a year but we clearly need to branch out!
ahhh - chicago-land ! the memories / the hospital visits... makes me happy to be in Boulder, colo >> fumbling around in the dark....with the skylight as my guide...cheers AA
+Rod Swanstrom /SKYLIGHT STUDIO Rod! Thanks for watching. And yes, it's just a matter of figuring out which city one wants to fumble around in the dark in, eh?
Haha, when I was in high school I did my project to on Henry darker for Chicago history fair. Nice to see you guys in my city, albeit I am much more north than the places you visited
Also, I feel somewhat. ..affronted by the idea of "boredom". I suppose we might be able to say that the violence that run through Chicago, the political, street, social violence that occur daily, often, are now so familiar that we've become. ..bored? ? I don't feel that way but sometimes "Midwest" stereotyping doesn't fit perfectly with how I see Chicago
Would you ever consider taking Art Trips international? Sorry if you've already answered this, and I know it would be expensive, but I live near to Birmingham in the UK, and there's several art galleries and museums there, and there's some beautiful places in Amsterdam, and of course there's lots of art galleries in London, and plenty of public art installations around.
+ARTiculations I can relate as well. After moving from NYC to Indianapolis, it took me a while to get used to the slower pace. But now I like it. (As long as I still get to travel often.) I don't have to fill my brain with scheming the best train route, or jockeying to get into stores, schools, shows, etc. I find it easier to focus on my work when I'm working, and my personal life when I'm personal life-ing.
Have you guys ever considered taking an art assignment from a teen artist? I understand that the artists featured on this channel have worked long and hard to be were they are now, but I think it would be really cool to have some maturing artist give assignments every once and a while.
I know it's cultural difference but sarah's concept of "heavy traffic" is literally what's called no traffic in the philippines :)) a bit alienating for me.. Love the bottlecap sculpture tho! Really endearing
+Maria Mison Haha, I actually thought about that as well when watching the first cut of this. The traffic didn't look bad even to me. Since my daily routine involves zero traffic and my office is 7 minutes from my home, it is particularly painful when I have to drive in cities with any traffic. I'll try to appreciate how relatively light it is next time!
Must see movie about Henry Darger: “In the Realms of the Unreal” (2004). Another great documentary about an eccentric artist (yeah, there’ve been a few!): “How to Draw a Bunny” (2002) about Ray Johnson.
I think it does matter where you make art. I'm from Hong Kong and I remember one artist saying that Hong Kong artists tend to work on a small scale because there just isn't any space to exhibit it/ store it. I think that it's also partly down to the dense and claustrophobic cityscape , it just seeps into tour subconsciousness.
+andrea Good point. People say that LA art is bigger than NYC art for similar reasons. What's interesting to think about is HOW where you live comes out in your work. In the case of Chicago's art, with it's history of surreal images, I would say it's not so simple as, say, the presence of the lake creating a constant horizon line, or the weather.
If you are a tourist on Chicago, especially in places where there are a lot of art and cultural centers, it is not boring. But personally, the Art Trip in Indianapolis and Utah is my favorite.
I really enjoyed this video, which showed a lot of Chicago-area venues I had barely heard of. My only quibble is your use of "activating" in regard to Lise Haller Baggesen's "Mothernism," as that word is curator/critic jargon. I'd suggest "enlivening" or "transforming" as better choices.
+Stephen Persing I love being called out on curator/critic jargon. This is something that doesn't happen to curators in museums often enough. Thank you. And idea: maybe we should make non-damaging "jargon" stickers that we can all surreptitiously place next to particularly alienating bits of texts in museum labels.
That was fun but form me no trip to Chicago is complete without a stop at Billy Goats for a lousy cheez burger and weak beer. Also, I’ve never stopped to see “Nighthawks,” which is now kind of an obsession to see.
Ooooh Chicago! I suppose the mid-west is pretty boring especially the rural places. So few people want to develop our culture. Still that doesn't mean it is devoid of creativity. "All good ideas I ever had came to me while I was milking a cow." Grant wood. The above quote is one of the answers my brother gives when people ask him why he still lives in the mid-west when he has been offered to work in California. There is also a noted painter in Maquoketa who decided to settle there and paint portraits of as many of the town's citizens as possible. My sister couldn't believe someone like her would choose Iowa of all places to open her gallery. It may well go unappreciated, but artistic flowers bloom here adored or not.
+Xenolilly Great quote! I agree with Wood, but my version would be while driving. And it is all relative, isn't it. When Assaf said that, I first thought about how when I came to Chicago for college, to me it was an incredibly exciting city, packed with as much culture as I could handle. But it isn't Tel Aviv, or Beijing, or London, or New York, or Tokyo. And if we're lucky we can move around and see what kind of place best fosters our creativity.
I can't imagine how amazing the cities you mentioned are. The idea that there are places busier than Chicago or Saint Louis is wondrous to me. I've been to Seattle and DC, but I'm guessing they can't compare to New York either. I am glad you found your driving route of creativity. I'm still searching for mine.
+ArtichokeHunter It can be overwhelming if you live in a big city, but there are a lot of great resources to see what's going on. The newspaper almost always has listings, no matter the size of the city. It can also be as easy as a google search for galleries, museums, etc. There are websites that track what's going on, too. Like in Chicago there's chicagogallerynews.com. And at www.artforum.com/guide/, you can look up art listings for a number of major cities worldwide. You can also get on the email lists for local galleries and museums, and they'll send you updates about new exhibitions, etc.
the ones iced with chocolate and confetti sprinkles are average cupcakes: P or did you mean a different one?:o ps. I am sweets-addict Mexican, I am certified to help you ❤😂
Is it just me who thinks what Assaf Evron said is kinda BS and condescending? not the part about boredom being an inspiring and productive space, the part about the Midwest being inherently boring. You can become bored anywhere and conversely can keep yourself entertained anywhere. Chicago is just as boring as New York/London/Tel Aviv/ect.
god i cant stand her voice, and i know exactly why... it seems as if she is trying her hardest to not seem condescending to her audience yet bits of condescension seep through as she desperately tries to create an undertone of intelligence in her structure.
