This morning the GF and I got up early in order to go see "The Spindle" in Berwyn. While (apparently) many of the residents of that community consider it an eyesore, for most folks in my generation it is an iconic sculpture forever associated with cars, driving, and "gotta moosh, gotta moosh, can you do the fandango". We had to go this weekend because it's probably going to get torn down any day now to make room for a new Walgreens. Because lord knows if there's anything we don't have enough here in Chicago - it's Walgreens locations.
Here's the thing though, it's obviously been over 15 years since Wayne's World was made, and like a lot of things left outside in the elements for 15 years, the Spindle hasn't held up well. The colors have mostly faded and there's a lot of bird poop, and rust is taking it's toll. But it's still pretty cool:
The thing that struck me is how it's not really all that tall, particularly from a distance:
Apparently, the area including the parking lot of Cermak Plaza Shopping Center used to be a center of avant guard contemporary art. But that was a long time ago, and none of it had been taken care of very well. For instance, there used to be four signs explaining the spindle surrounding the piece, but of the original four, two had disappeared entirely and the other two were degraded almost to the point of unreadibility. This one was the "best":
Obviously, you can see the need to tear it down in order to put in the new Walgreens. I mean, it's not like that parking lot has any extra space to spare...
Finally, one artsy shot because dammit, some day I want my kids to see that Dad did something useful with his time on earth - documenting greater Chicagoland's kitchy landmarks before they got torn down.
Here's the thing though, it's obviously been over 15 years since Wayne's World was made, and like a lot of things left outside in the elements for 15 years, the Spindle hasn't held up well. The colors have mostly faded and there's a lot of bird poop, and rust is taking it's toll. But it's still pretty cool:
The thing that struck me is how it's not really all that tall, particularly from a distance:
Apparently, the area including the parking lot of Cermak Plaza Shopping Center used to be a center of avant guard contemporary art. But that was a long time ago, and none of it had been taken care of very well. For instance, there used to be four signs explaining the spindle surrounding the piece, but of the original four, two had disappeared entirely and the other two were degraded almost to the point of unreadibility. This one was the "best":
Obviously, you can see the need to tear it down in order to put in the new Walgreens. I mean, it's not like that parking lot has any extra space to spare...
Finally, one artsy shot because dammit, some day I want my kids to see that Dad did something useful with his time on earth - documenting greater Chicagoland's kitchy landmarks before they got torn down.
Comments
Or should I say..."art".