The sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Chicago's Millennium Park, better know to locals as "The Bean", (da bean) is in the center of a controversy over park rules forbidding this "bean" to be photographed. The artist copyrighted the sculpture and anyone reproducing it in any form needs permission of Kapoor. The question that needs answering is why the city, which spent $270 million on this park would enter into such a dumb agreement. The Bean is a natural photo op for anyone coming to the park and the presence of forbidding park security people who target shutter bugs is way beyond the pale for a public park. A copyrighted public space, that's what our tax dollars are buying these days. link via Boing Boing
Update: By golly there is more Millennium Park news today. The Sun-Times is reporting the park has awarded a "twenty year lease to run a swanky restaurant at Millennium Park to a businessman who got a top park districk official pregnant during the lease negotiations." (Is this a different version of the park's copyright regulations?) In addition this same man has investors in the eatery who include many friends of Mayor Daley. (Da Mare) "Among the investors are Daley's friend Fred Barbara, a nephew of the late mobbed-up Ald. Fred Roti. Barbara has ties to the Hired Truck scandal and the blue bag recycling controversy." The Mayor is now concerned about how this looks.
Daley spokeswoman Jacquelyn Heard: "At this time in Chicago, it's the worst possible time to have names like that when we're trying to clean up the image and impression of clout," Heard said.
"There's nothing illegal. We're not saying there's the existence of clout and influence, but there's an impression of it." Chicago Chicago Chicago
F**king Socialists in Chicago! These bastards just gave me an excuse next time I go there!
Posted by: Macker | February 11, 2005 at 11:39 PM