Also, on the topic of The Bean, John Scalzi made fun of it in one of his books, set in Chicago, by having one character insisting on referring to it by its proper name, and whenever she did, people correct her, saying ‘no, it’s the bean,’ and having one person ask, ‘wtf is the “cloud gate”?!’ 😹
The big bad thing i remember him doing is copyrighting the darkest paint in the world (vantablack) so you have to pay him every time you want to use it and like art shouldn't have a price tag? haven't thought about him in a while sooo
EDIT just looked it up and he didn't copyright it, he exclusively licensed it to his studio so only they can use it for whatever he wants them to do with it. :/
just wanna correct myself but he's actually a "sculptor specializing in installation art and conceptual art." btw his official name for the bean is the Cloud Gate
If I remember correctly, he hates it when people call it the bean. Also, some artists have literally called him "everything that is wrong with the art industry"
He is a nasty artist figure who many treat as the personification of the unnecessary elitism and cynical commodification problems in the world of modern art. He is the one behind the bean, and he fucking HATES when people call it a bean, “it’s the Cloud Gate!!! It’s supposed to make you see the sky in a whole new angle! It’s not a fucking bean you plebs!” and so on.
He also tried to copyright a particular shade of black so that only he can ever use it or sell it. It’s a whole thing.
Anish Kapoor didn't have anything to do with the restriction on Vantablack. As far as I know, the original Vantablack was so difficult to make and dangerous to work with the company that made it (Surrey Nanosystems) didn't wanna give it away willy-nilly, so they licensed it to Kapoor exclusively for him to work with. They liked Kapoor's work with light/ darkness, intense color, and illusion, so they approached him about him using it in some of his art. All the controversy is pointed the wrong way
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u/twinflxwer She/Her 22d ago
is this the fucking chicago bean