Love the Humback Bridge

Virginia is creating art objects at some of its interesting sites in hopes of people sharing them on social media.

This is the LOVEworks at the Humpback Bridge near Covington, VA. It's an old covered bridge, which is only pedestrian accessible now.  They used the natural "V" of the tree and made the word love around it.

Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park

If you have a few hours to kill in western Michigan, this is a place to visit. It’s a botanic garden with a twist: sculpture, lots of sculpture! This summer they also have a special exhibit of all of Degas’ sculptures.

Today the weather was terrible, on and off rainstorms and sticky humidity otherwise) and I’m walking (limping) around with a broken toe, but I’m glad I came.

A centerpiece of the sculpture garden is 24 foot “American Horse,” by Nina Akamu (1955), which pays homage to Leonardo Da Vinci’s 24 horse model which was never cast in bronze.

A lot of the other stuff is really modern and inexplicable to me, but I did like the head with a book tied to it: “Listening to History,” by Bill Woodrow (1995), I think the title sells it. I also like “I, you, she, or he…” (right) by Jaume Plensa (2006), but I'm not sure what it means - if you can't see from the picture (click on it to enlarge) the figures are made up of metal letters.

Museum of Modern Ice

“Paintings Below Zero” by Gordon Halloran are on display in Chicago’s Millennium Park until sometime this spring. The art fixture consists of sheets of ice with pigments on aluminum tubes with liquid glycol to keep them cool. They are worked on throughout the exhibit to change the textures and colors of the pieces.

The ice sheets are on display in the park behind “Cloudgate” aka “The Bean.” They’re cool and all (no pun intended) but not what I expected. I expected them to be freestanding blocks of different sizes and shapes rather than panels rigged up in a metal superstructure (the above link to his website really implies that). I especially like, though, how the city of Chicago keeps coming up with reasons for people to be out and about in the city, especially during the winter. Gotta love Chicago!

(By the way, New Yorkers, the reason you have a reputation for being obnoxious is because you do things like coming to Chicago in February and complaining about it being cold. I know for a fact it gets cold in New York, too (today for instance it’s a balmy 24 degrees) so quit your bitch'n or stay home!)