South Loop Garage Graffiti

Public Art comes from all different mediums displayed in a central location that has been planned for viewing.  Graffiti is often seen as vandalism by the city of Chicago. Our mayor, Rahm Emanuel, believes strongly that graffiti is a crime and that it diminishes our quality of life. Chicago offers free graffiti removal services to any defaced surface. This program has since been implemented in many other major cities around the world. So why would a South Loop parking garage allow these "vandals" to deface their entire building? Can this graffiti be appreciated as art?

There is a piece of public art located on a parking garage in the South Loop that seems to catch viewers eye to their business and the area. The parking garage is covered completely in graffiti. The graffiti has images of the Chicago skyline, CTA busses and train lines, and other Chicago landmarks hidden throughout the mural along these walls. 

The design was clearly pre-planned and shows many qualities of art within its design. The colorful lines swirl through the mural, leading your eye throughout the entirety of the piece. Every color seems to blend together perfectly with the well chosen shades in each area. Also, the intricate fading of the colors give the building a three dimensional sense on the flat walls.

 Finally, the art on this building makes this simple parking garage stand out for more than its purpose. The parking garage is surrounded by buildings faced with neutral tones brick. This short, stucco parking garage doesn't necessarily fit in with its surroundings, but as a mid-priced, covered parking garage, the artwork on the face of the building draws people in. Many people who live in the city don't own cars because of the cheaper options of public transportation. The people needing to park their cars in garages are often from out of town, and appreciate the bits of Chicago landmarks through the imagery hidden in the graffiti. The bright colored graffiti contrasts the buildings in the area, adding a bit on interest to the block.

Metropolitan Correctional Center

An innovative idea in itself, bringing a jail to downtown Chicago brought along controversy and contemporary design. Located in the South Loop at 71 West Van Buren, the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) finally started construction in 1971 after much debate on its location. Many locals opposed the idea of a jail coming to the downtown area, but its purpose is to hold those awaiting trial at the courthouse, just two blocks away. When the issue of the placement of this building got to the courts, the judges threw it out right away. The placement of this building, despite frustrated locals, is quite perfect for the purposes it serves.

The architect for the MCC was Harry Weese. Weese is a Chicago native and his work is displayed throughout the city. He has also designed the Washington, D.C. Metro system, worked in Ghana, Boston, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, and many other locations. 

Weese and the project manager, Jack Hartray, justified bringing the MCC to Chicago under the mindset that the men and women housed in the center are innocent until proven guilty. With this, Weese and Hartray wanted to make the building a little more inviting than your average jail. 

The Metropolitan Correctional Center stands 28 stories high, including a rooftop exercise yard. The building is a neutral tan, three sided, and has windows that measure five inches by seven feet. If one isn't aware of the jail, they would probably never know it was there.The building is often looked over because of the strange angles that it has in comparison to the buildings around it. From personal experience, the building is strangely hidden, but once you know it is there, its unique design eerily catches your eye every time. The angles seem to draw you in and the narrow windows hook your interest. The windows have no bars and run from the floor to the ceiling. As Weese and Hartray wanted to keep their "upscale jail" the windows ran floor to ceiling to emit natural light without the obstruction and feel of bars on your windows. The narrow design is quite innovative because although there is no bars, there is a very low escape risk with a width of five inches. 

Not only does this building have a sleek outer design, but the triangle formation has proven to be quite simple for the guards to patrol with the wide range of visibility on the floors. The doors on the elevator also serve as a security pass point as they are built in the style of service elevators with bolts. Prisoners are also kept only starting at the tenth floor. These precautionary measures to aid the public keep the South Loop a safe area. 

The amenities that the prisoners have are quite extensive, considering their circumstances. The furniture was all built in with hard wood, ordered by the architect, Weese. The top floor serves as an open aired exercise area. This is built up high enough to not show the city goers the frightening image of prisoners in close proximity to them. This also helps conceal the purpose of this building in the gorgeous South Loop. Inside is also a library and a store for the inmates. The idea of having extra amenities for these prisoners will benefit them by giving them something positive, like reading, to do in their spare time. 

Since its opening, the MCC has rid of the wood furniture and doesn't seem to have the same qualities and benefits as it was originally designed. Despite its changes, the building proves to be most interesting to anyone walking through the area.The innovative idea of this sleek, upscale correctional facility wasn't quite upheld by management, however the building design remains a spooky element to the regular four sided high-rises in the South Loop.

21 Up

Being introduced to the well known British "Up" series, I chose to continue with 21 Up, and follow the lives of ten diverse seven year olds throughout their lives. The third in the series, 21 Up brings Apted's psychologically driven project to life. In Seven Up, Apted poses questions to these young kids about their viewpoint on certain subjects in life such as where the see themselves, having a boyfriend or girlfriend, and racial standpoints. Having not seen Seven plus Seven, it was helpful to have the flashbacks from the previous interviews including in 21 Up. In the first installment of the series, the kids answer as honest 7 year olds would. Although the questions are framed very well in & up, the kids still are able to give their honest opinions on each topic without much sway in their answers. But, in 21 Up I noticed the much more mature versions of these children being asked the same questions. At 21 everyone in their right mind would like to feel proud of themselves and well accomplished and on their way to a bright future, therefore their updates on life I feel are a little less accurate. A good example of this would be Neil. At 21, Neil had dropped out of Aberdeen University and worked in construction in London. Neil talks about how there were more options for him in London. However, he was working a construction job, and acknowledged the fact that he will be at a disadvantage since he gave up his college degree. Apted then plays a clip of how Neil's friend will graduate University in the Spring. Neil had a very middle class background, so I find it interesting that they framed it in such a way that basically said, middle class children have around half of a chance to be successful, it just depends on personal drive.  Also, Charles proved to be framed in an interesting manner as well. Growing up in a very high class family, his other two school friends, John and Andrew went on to Oxford and Trinity College Cambridge, but Charles didn't take the route originally planned. His idea at 7 was to attend Oxford. But, by his attire and his attitude, he greatly contrasted his other two friends at 21. This was interesting because they all grew up in what seemed to be very similar lifestyles. But, Apted definitely emphasized the difference in Charles and his other two friends. This was seemed to be the cause of rebellion as a teenager. Overall, I enjoyed Seven Up more than 21 Up, just because I felt that you were getting more raw, real answers. In 21 Up, many of the children are products of their environment, and that is what this was meant to show. But, I didn't like how many of the questions were posed, as it seemed as though the people were in the wrong when their opinions had changed between seven, fourteen, and twenty-one. Although these people are still very young in life, 21 Up seems to give a pretty good idea of where each of them is headed.

The Illusionist

To a creator, the animated French film, The Illusionist, demonstrates exceptional cartoon illustrations throughout the storyline. When the director wants to get a point across, he doesn't just show by actions, but by one's appearance, too. In poking fun at the image of the fan girls, they are made to look crazed and unintelligent to the viewer. This is made possible, also, by the band coming off extremely excessive and not very talented. These highly contrast the fans of the magician, being an old, emotionless lady with her overweight grandson.  I believe these characters were made this way to evoke pity towards the magician because he seems "normal."
 When the illusionist travels to Scotland, he is found to be much more interesting and appreciated. The people there are showed to be genuine and kind, such as the hostel owner, his family, and the other guests. Their culture contradicts the mainstream London culture of screaming fans and busy streets with their appreciation of a simple lightbulb and the illusionist's show. This fits beautifully with the plot as well. At this point, the little girl comes in as a daughter figure, creating a kinship with the man. Whereas in London, he seemed to be alone with his pesky rabbit.
The contrast of the London setting and the Scotland setting also bring up the idea of normalcy. In London, the illusionist didn't seem to be successful in the least. But, he seemed to get by much better in Scotland. With the kind people, the friendship created with the little girl, and his success, the viewer is aimed to see Scotland in a better light. This shows the classic idea of city versus country. In this scenario, the director has us believing that the quiet country is a much more realistic and normal society to live in.
Finally, the overall craftsmanship and work done on the illustrations of this movie is more than impressive to me. Each of the characters is quite unique. This movie does not fall into the category of those in which all the characters were clearly done with the same style and intention. The little girl and the illusionist each have a very different, yet readable look to them. But, the screaming fan girls all seem to look the same, giving them that unimportant, blended role in the film. Not only the characters, but the  multiple landscape scenes look idyllic in each view. The lighting in them seems to come up and brighten each of the colors as it leads you into the next scene. An example of this is when at the end of the day it turns from dark to light outside, showing the bright colors of the Scottish village.
Having never seen this full movie, I did not get to fully enjoy the plot line. But, I was very captivated by the incredible work done on the details of emotion.