Sunday, February 17, 2008

where have your walls gone?



today it is raining on top of the two feet of snow we have. honestly. . . I don't think the weather could get any more gross than this. yuck. so this is today's art journal page.

the weekend has been good in spite of it. yesterday Mike and I went to the city to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. In all the years I've lived in this area, I've never been; crazy, right? There was a special presentation this weekend of a new virtual tour of the 1893 World's Fair-the Columbian Exposition. It was fascinating and I'm so glad we got the chance to see it. The scale of the fair is truly amazing and it's hard to even imagine what it must have been like for the people who were lucky enough to see it back then.

(this is the only image available from the museum's web site and there weren't any brochures or other information about the virtual tour. it's still a work in progress, so maybe someday.)

If you've ever read Devil in the White City, or even heard the Sufjan Stevens song "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!" you know a little bit about the Columbian Exposition, so I don't think I should launch into any big history lessons here. :) The idea of it appeals to so many aspects of my nerdiness. . . art history and architecture, chicago history, old stuff in general, things that are basically fairy tales come to life, spectacles. The wikipedia page is here if you're interested.

3 comments:

robayre said...

Oh, I'll have to get there and see this, wait you said this weekend, does that mean it was only this weekend? I've read the DITWC and am fortunate enough to have a few pieces of memorabilia from the exhibition itself. I would really love to see this virtual tour.

katielicht said...

robyn, i think it might have been only this weekend, I'm not sure why. there was some background info presented on the project but not enough really. both my husband and I were wondering if it's something that will ever be online or available to buy, but they really didn't say.

i did find a website about the project that shows a little more of what it is. http://www.ust.ucla.edu/ustweb/Projects/columbian_expo.htm

i'm so jealous you have actual pieces of memorabilia from the fair! that's awesome.

justem said...

I saw your blog post at Kelly Purkey's blog and stopped by...I just had to comment...

I am TOTALLY JEALOUS that you got to see this!! We went on Sunday and got there right when the museum opened and by the time we got through the line, all the tickets were gone. Such a bummer!!