DOWNTOWN, SOUTH LOOP & RIVER NORTH
Business & Economy
China Totally Ripped Off Chicago’s Bean Sculpture (PHOTO)
By
Alex Nitkin | August 12, 2015 9:18am
@alexnitkin
TwitterFacebookEmailMore
KARAMAY, CHINA — Chinese state media announced a new sculpture Tuesday that Chicagoans may find suspiciously familiar.
The People's Daily, the official publication of the Chinese Communist Party,
tweeted a photo proclaiming the completion a "sculpture in shape of oil bubble" to mark the site of the first oil well in Karamay, an oil-producing city in China's Xinjiang province.
The structure appears to be the exact size, shape and composition of Millenium Park's
Cloud Gate, more commonly known as "The Bean."
Alex Nitkin · DNAinfo Reporter
Should we be flattered, or furious?
VOICE YOUR OPINION ON NHSQ!
Chicago's Bean was unveiled in 2006.
The city describes it as a "110-ton elliptical sculpture...forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates."
Designed by artist Anish Kapoor to "reflect Chicago's famous skyline and the clouds above," it measures 66 feet long by 33 feet high and has a 12-foot-high arch,
a common site for tourist selfies.
The City of Chicago says its Bean was built to
replicate liquid mercury, and let's be real — an "oil bubble" would look nothing like it.
Could this be a coincidence? Could China be adding Chicago to its list of copy/pasted cities, which currently include
replicas of Paris and Florence? Do we have a "Cloud Gate-Gate" on our hands?
H/T
TimeOut Chicago