Crown Fountain in Chicago's Millennium Park
On the southwestern edge of Chicago's most artistic park, Millennium, the Crown Fountain is a favorite spot for cadets to play in a large pool and avoid the jets of water that Chicagoans spit on the ground. Don't worry, though: these are LED projections of giant faces that seem to have a trickle of water coming out of their mouths.
The work by Catalan artist Jaume Plensa consists of two 50-feet glass brick towers facing each other and rising from a barely submerged black granite pool, giving the impression of walking on water. To create this "video sculpture," Plensa filmed hundreds of Chicagoans, most of them with their eyes closed and their mouths in an "O" shape.
Of all the art installations in Millennium Park, the Crown Fountain is the most controversial, largely because the height of its two towers is considered by some to violate the park's aesthetic tradition.
Weather permitting, the fountain operates daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. from May through October.
A good idea
In the middle of the day, the sun makes it difficult to see faces. Best at the end of the day when it gets dark.
- Southwest of Millennium Park, between Michigan Avenue, Randolph Street, Columbus Drive and East Monroe Drive.