Let's Play 'Hide the Bean'

By Rachelle Bowden in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 17, 2004 7:49PM

Which seems like it would be an easy game, if not very fun. But what about when the bean is 66 feet long and 33 feet tall and weighs 110 tons? That's when you build a tent around it and pretend that you didn't rush the unveiling before it was ever finished.

On January 4th, "The Bean", officially named "Cloud Gate," will be shielded from public view to begin 5 months of polishing and grinding to get the seams out of its 168 plates. The sculpture was first unveiled in July and its British sculptor Anish Kapoor was pretty pissed that it debuted unfinished. He's been pushing for its completion ever since. Work to complete the sculpture was delayed until after the Christmas season to January, when there will be smaller crowds in the park.

When we saw Cloud Gate in August (when this photo was taken) the seams were noticeable but not too bad. October when we went back the sculpture looked much worse. Almost like there was welding on the seams or something. It was not as impressive. They need to fix that shit up. We're wondering, though.. do you think they'll be able to totally polish out the visibility of the seams altogether?