Mike,
The Spindle still stands (this is not happenning that fast.)
Read how the Berwyn Arts Council is starting a "Save the Spindle" campaign.
http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/cicero/homepage/x1578378208
Riverside Info » About Riverside
Sub Life article: The Spindle at Berwyn mall
(30 posts)-
Posted Wednesday Jul 11, 2007 15:45 #
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This was on Chicago Public Radio today in what seemed like almost every hour.
http://wbez.org/Search.aspx?search=spindle
848 will on again at 8:00 PM tonight on WBEZ 91.5 if you want to hear it first hand.
http://wbez.org/Program_848_Segment.aspx?segmentID=11916
http://wbez.org/CityRoom_Story.aspx?storyID=11904And you cannot forget about Bohemian Rhapsody from Wayne's World (1:48 into video).
Posted Wednesday Jul 11, 2007 16:56 # -
I would like to let everyone know that we are working diligently on getting estimates for relocating the Spindle to a new location
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within
Cermak Plaza about 400 feet west of its current location.
Unless they are a contractor or engineer we are working with; anyone who tells you anything about the cost of moving it, relocating it can't possibly know what they are talking about since they have no idea what is underneath the ground, what type of environmental hazards are associated with the pigeon waste and what the current structural condition is.
The artist said he could do it for $150,000 but he actually did not build it in the first place. He came up with the concept, made a model, drew plans and picked out the cars. Ownership needed to hire an engineer and the contractors to install it.
We are working in the same manner to save the piece now. That includes restoring it back to new condition. It is going to be an expensive, time consuming process. Even if Walgreen's never moved we would still be at this point because of the current condition of the sculpture.
We have experience installing, renovating and removing "if necessary" public art (see:
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/CTHAMparking.html ).Once we know all the facts associated with what the Spindle needs we will be in a better position to make a decision on what will be done with it.
We like the Spindle and think it is a valuable asset for Cermak Plaza. However, at the end of the day our paramount concern is the safety and physical condition of the Spindle.
Posted Wednesday Jul 11, 2007 16:57 # -
Would the spindle need to come down or be rehabbed even if it weren't being moved? Seems like a large portion of the expense is for restoration, not just moving. If it weren't being moved, would it need work anyway?
Posted Wednesday Jul 11, 2007 17:15 # -
I am glad to hear that the powers that be are trying to save it and to move it 400 ft.
But am I reading that linked article correctly? We're trying to save the spindle, but the article cited is an example of some art that was not saved.
That ghost parking lot in CT seemed real cool, but it should have been cleaner and less disordered - those cars looked so decrepit, and had all that dirt and asphalt on them; they were ugly and, as the mall people said in the article, were an 'eyesore'. The pictures looked eerie. There were even some green stalks growing in one of the cars. I guess it was too costly to clean up the cars, so they were removed.
For the spindle, we should similarly replace all the rusting fenders and axles, remove the pigeon stuff, and otherwise restore the cars to their pristine condition.
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NO. IMO - people are not getting the concept. Those pieces are about the costs of rampant unthinking consumerism. There is nothing clean about the indiscriminate buying of big material items; there are big costs to the environment, both local and global.
If more of the world finally 'caught up' with their 'rich uncle sam', and did like US, which right now is consuming a disproportionate amount of the earth's resources relative to its size in the world, to fuel the production and consumption of these big items, that vision that the CT Ghost Parking lot artist saw, and which is seen currently in the middle of the Cermak Plaza, WILL come to pass.
So I say move it. I'll throw what I can into that fund to help+. Make sure it is safe. It is outdoor art. Isn't it designed to interact with the outdoors? Its message will reveal itself even more clearly.
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And, lest someone might think I am some 'riverside/artiste' dilettante, we Tomeceks have been living continuously in the same Berwyn bungalow since 1936, and I still have a share in that bungalow with my brothers who still live there. They like the spindle, too.Posted Thursday Jul 12, 2007 11:11 # -
I don't know too much about outdoor art, but I thought I heard in an interview with the artist that they should have electrified the sculpture to make it uncomfortable for birds to land on.
And did you see in the Landmark Judy Barr's comments about the Spindle?
http://rblandmark.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=2772&SectionID=3&SubSectionID=&S=1It is goodbye to the Cermak Plaza's ugly, degenerating stack of old cars called "The Spindle."
Yup, it's coming down as the plaza, one of the earliest shopping plazas ever built, does a 50-year makeover. Apparently the mall's current ownership would like a free-standing Walgreen's there, and does not know where they could relocate the spindle, if at all, due to the cost and other considerations.
Well, make it easy on yourself, plaza management. Send the old cars to the junkyard where they belong.
I recall talking with David Bermant, the shopping center's original owner, early on in my legislative career, when I represented Berwyn.
Residents and officials within the city tried every which way to rid the plaza of the spindle, and the now departed "pork chop of garbage" sculpture that once faced Harlem Avenue.
Bermant, now deceased, took me on, and said he would neither relent nor remove the contentious sculptures and suggested that I and my constituents were "rednecks" who did not appreciate public art. He said he would keep the sculptures there to "educate us" into understanding what art was all about.
Frankly, I am glad to see the vertical auto graveyard go. Yes, it brought notoriety to the area, but who needs such bad or embarrassing press that makes us all look like a bunch of goofs.
Having said that, I still marvel that the State of Illinois put "The Clouds" sculpture in front of the Thompson Center and paid good money for it. I admit it. I guess I am a redneck and lack appreciation of art.
Those lower halves of giants' statues in Chicago's Grant Park also do not score too highly on my list of artworks. I can understand why folks walking their dogs there felt that it was OK for the dogs to mistake this fleet of large legs and feet bereft of bodies for fireplugs.
Posted Thursday Jul 12, 2007 11:33 # -
Yes, I recall how she never liked, nor understood, the 'Porkchop' or the 'Kabob'. I am not surprised at her judgements now. She definitely would have cleaned up or removed that awful eyesore in Connecticut. :)
To me, art is exactly akin to our world - a created thing that was mysteriously made - inspired with a similar spirit operating that made our world. Being mysterious, its meaning then, will inevitably be subject to varying intepretations by diferent viewers. It is rich and can be bigger than even the artist might imagine. Things can 'work' in the piece that the artist did not intend. Again, this is like our world where there are huge differing points of view on religion, philosophies of life, and why we are here, etc.
InMyOpinion
Posted Thursday Jul 12, 2007 11:37 # -
Like the art or not how did it "make us look like a bunch of goofs"? She was Illinois State Treasurer while the Illinois Department of Tourism was running an ad campaign to visit the piece. Any moron can see that the Spindle brings visitors, shoppers and world wide attention to the Chicago area. She also has a lack of appreciation for economic development paid for with private dollars.
Chris, even if Walgreen's stayed where they are at, the sculpture would still need to be taken down and refurbished within the next 3-5 years. This type of art work does not hold up well to the elements. The cars were obtained from a junk yard so were at the end of their useful life when it was installed.
Some other sites for the Spindle:
Posted Thursday Jul 12, 2007 11:57 # -
Oh yeah, which is it: 40 or 50 feet tall? The artist said it was 50 feet but I keep seeing 40 everywhere. It LOOKS taller than 40 feet...
Posted Thursday Jul 12, 2007 12:36 # -
It's 50 foot tall :)
In the news - Berwyn Suburban Life July 17: http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/berwyn/homepage/x61734155
Poll - Should Landmarks like the Spindle be torn down:
http://www.chicagosuburbannews.com/berwyn/homepage/x1769860736(stupid poll: you can select BOTH yes and no at the same time!)
Posted Tuesday Jul 17, 2007 22:34 #
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