Cloud Gate

Cloud gate is a sculpture created by Anish Kapoor and it serves as the centerpiece of Millennium Park in the Loop area of Chiago, Illinois. It is Kapoor’s first public outdoor piece in the United States and it is also the work by which is he most recognized. It was constructed between 2004 and 2006 and is nicknamed “The Bean” due to its bean like shape. A 12 foot high arc provides an entrance into the chamber underneath, welcoming visitors to touch its mirror like surface and as a result see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives. It is made up of 168 plates of stainless steel and has no visible seams giving making it truly unique. It measures 33 by 66 by 42 feet and weighs about 110 tons.  The work was the result of a design competition and Kapoor’s design was chosen over thirty other submitted designs. The work, inspired by liquid mercury, distorts the image of visitors and creates a fun-house like effect. Due to its elliptical shape The Bean also reflects the Chicago skyline in a distorted and twisted way. The total cost of producing the cloud gate was expected to be at $6 million but the final figure turned out to be $23 million.

Anish Kapoor describes Cloud Gate as a transformative, iconic work. He also aims to evoke immateriality and the spiritual in this sculpture. The intent behind the work’s mirror effect’s help to dematerialize the piece making it seem light and weightless. Kapoor wants the viewers to internalize The Bean through theoretical and intellectual exercises. By reflecting many things at once, it limits its viewers to a limited comprehension at any time. The spiritual dimension of Cloud Gate comes from the interaction of the viewer who moves to create his or her own image. Kapoor also plays with the duality of empirical space and abstract space. The reflectiveness creates a sense of depth and therefore makes the viewer question what they are seeing. He does so by transforming solid into the likes of a liquid. The distortion that the reflection creates of the architecture surrounding the sculpture challenges the perception of the viewer. He also describes his work through the Hinduism’s ideas and says that “The experience of opposites allows for the expression of wholeness.” A prominent duality in Hinduism is that of lingam and yoni, and The Cloud Gate represents both of these by the symbolization of both the male and female entities in the vagina and testicles.

I find this piece beautiful for a multitude of reasons. I have visited the Cloud Gate many times and each time is just as fascinating as the previous. The mirror-like surface makes it both engaging and entertaining. Everyplace you stand gives you a different distorted image of yourself which makes it especially appealing. The way the sculpture reflects the architecture around it in a distorted way, gives the viewer a different perception of the city. I was also unaware of what the sculpture was intended to be. I had always thought that it was just as its nickname says, The Bean, but finding out that it is representative of a vagina and testicles brings out its beauty even more. I like how the opposites are present and how they complement each other while not being so distinctly profound. The seamlessness of the sculpture also brings out the sense of an endless depth and that intensifies the experience of the viewer. I also find it intriguing how the Cloud Gate changes the perception of time by changing the speed of movement of objects passing by such as those of the clouds. Overall, The Bean is beautiful due to its versatility and ability to captivate its viewer.