10 Questions About…

Uncharacteristically, I bought tickets to The Magnetic Fields show in Chicago last July. I never do that – so much to go wrong and in the end I did miss one important work meeting back in St Paul but I don’t feel too bad about. The show was worth it. Katie and I went to night one of a two-night series where they played their double album, 69 Love Songs. The collection has a song for every conceivable breakup and a couple with happy endings. Next time we’re going to both nights!

Dad (aka grandpa) drove down too – for the eating and the driving and he met up with friends. We arrived early Wednesday afternoon. Katie and I took the train to downtown Chicago and walked around until we went for an amazing dinner at Pilsen Yards. (Hot ti: pina colada ceviche.) Then we walked up to Thalia Hall. There was already a line – but we’re pros so we caught a beer in the bar downstairs. We didn’t get front row seats but, we didn’t wait in lines either. The sound in Thalia is awesome anywhere and honestly the sightlines are better upstairs. The show was so much fun and I think I cried twice from laughing so hard.

Thursday we mostly chilled. Not enough time to truck downtown with all the road construction. Every time we went out for a walk it started to rain. But we did make it to consignment shops in Evanston, where I got a dress that’s too fancy, except I can wear it when I host an actual rock show on an actual venue stage. (Mama Hellcats at the Hook & Ladder on May 16!)

Thursday night, we ate at our favorite French restaurant, D&J’s Bistro in Lake Zurich. Dinner includes pate, carpaccio, scallops, lobster, mussels, dark chocolate ganache and family: dad, Katie, Dan, Betsy and me. My niece Betsy just successfully completed a tons of tests in her year-5 of her 6 year quest to become a physical therapist. So, it was a celebration. After that dad and I headed to Janesville for the night and now we’re passing the Ho Chunk Casino on the way back to the Cities.

“The biggest enemy of life is stupidity.” I learned that today from Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, a hologram of a Holocaust survivor at the Illinois Holocaust Museum today. Anita was 18 when she was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp. Her family had tried to escape before the Nazi invasion several times, unsuccessfully. The last time, she and her sister were arrested, sent to prison and eventually to Auschwitz. She survived because she was a cellist and, as she made a point of saying several times, because she was lucky. In this case, she was lucky they were starting an orchestra, she was lucky someone asked if she played, she was lucky they remembered the answer. We heard her story and then, through the magic of technology, were able to ask the hologram-of-her various questions. I recorded one answer because it speaks to how music literally saved her.

I have talked to so many musicians who feel their music is frivolous in bad times. (And I think it doesn’t take blurred vision to see parallels to persecution of Jews and others today.) But music transcends. Also, music is a way to tell a story that can be more palatable than other methods. Storytelling irradicates stupidity. Or at least it helps. Before the presentation, the docent encouraged us to take pictures and videos to share with the world. I wish I could share the whole museum! (Their website does a good job!)

The description of the holocaust is like a test case of how to do propaganda and break down community. Only by learning about how this has been done before can we recognize it happening again and one of the credos we should all stand up is … never again.

Also at the museum was an exhibit on delis – I’ll have what she’s having. It seems weird to end such a series post (or visit) with something lighthearted but it speaks to the resilience of the survivors and makes it easier to want to share the whole story. Anita told her story with hints of humor; it makes it easier to listen and hear. I’ll just share pictures here; in the case of delis that’s enough to help us all connect to the story. (I’m going to include some screenshots of their super smart exhibits on how you can help make people smarter based on your skillset to be upstanders, not bystanders.)

We worked our magic so that we could have a full day of fun in Chicago. Lily and I stayed downtown so we were close to lots of art. We found some bonus art at the Harold Washington Library. (Where I used to take classes!) First, the library is beautiful and it’s always fun to get a sneak peek into a city through the local library. We ran into Above and Beyond, a Vietnam War Memorial that is comprised of 58,307 dog tags hanging from the ceiling above the staircase in the library. Each represents someone from the armed forces who was killed in Vietnam and each dog tag shows their name, casualty date and military branch. There is one black dog tag for those who have died after the war from conditions related to the war. It’s moving. We did wonder about they might include or represent everyone who died or was left victim. (We have some ideas.)

Then we headed to the Art Institute of Chicago! We especially loved Thinking of You I Mean Me by Barbara Kruger. The art is in your face. It’s as much text and audio as imagery. The messages are loud and bold and contorted in a way that makes you feel a little queasy and disoriented. Then a creepy “I love you” chirps in the gallery. Aarggh. There’s a battle between love of oneself and love from another and how to attract each other and learn to live with ourselves and media.

The images say it all, yet don’t touch the impact. The size of messages of the wall are overwhelming. Some of the images are grotesque and shocking, yet every day. The challenge is recognizing the difference between the naturally grotesque and the artificially beautiful.  There’s something very human in recognizing the dehumanization we all ascribe to for ourselves and our loved ones. And there’s something empowering about recognizing it for what it is.

And then we saw so many of our favorites. Lily is a big fan of American Gothic. I’m always a sucker for Cindy Sherman. The Institute provides a quick list of their most popular, which we always try to check out. And the work that caught my attention for the first time (thanks to Lily) was Stamford after Brunch by John Currin; the three women on the couch with drinks. Amazingly creepy example of uncanny valley – that line between human and not quite.

We took a break by visiting a comic store (Lily’s passion) and resting until a lovely dinner with Katie and dad (aka grandpa) at Fremento’s. They were so accommodating and the food was delicious.

Then finally the raison d’etre – Magnet Fields at City Winery. I have to admit I was nervous at first because it was a seated/tabled event but felt like an airplane – but dark and where you aren’t allowed to talk. Fortunately for us the people behind Katie were not adhering to the no talking so she asked if we could move and scored us an amazing table with lots of space. Yay Katie! They didn’t play a long set but they played many of my favorites from 69 Love Songs. And played a new favorite, My Stupid Boyfriend. The Magnet Fields are able to capture the humor of our darkest thoughts and there’s comfort in hearing them saying out loud something you might feel guilty about even thinking. Lily and I both love them. I’ve seen Stephin Merritt but never the whole band. So this was definitely a bucket list event. Katie had not seen them but their music is so good, she loved it too.

We arrived in Chicago on Wednesday for our mini-vacation to see Magnetic Fields but we budgeted a couple of days of fun too. Lily and I are stayed downtown for the night. First thing we did, ran out to see The Bean. It was rainy and coldish but it’s always fun to see it.

Then we took a walk down Michigan Avenue.

We got into the Museum of Contemporary Art downtown Chicago for free. We were there less than 30 minutes before close and we were going to give it a miss and they kindly invited us in. We saw the two roving exhibits. Christina Quarles was interesting and Lily’s favorite. She focuses on bodies entwined and often mashed up. I love her hands and feet feel like they are reaching out from somewhere much deeper than the painting. Some of her work has a political backdrop – mostly because anything done in the last four or five years is political if you’re a women or BIPOC. I loved the way she used song lyrics in the works.

I also enjoyed Bani Abidi, which is overtly political. His work, The Man Who Talked Until He Disappeared, looks at the clash between power and media and our view of ourselves and what we’ll do to change our view or the view of others. Sometimes that means going the extra yard to hope that people outside of your community see you and sometimes it’s going an extra year to be more than you are.

Back to Michigan Avenue we got a glimpse at Christmas Windows, which may actually be on State Street – either way we were impressed with the bold move to a new holiday story.

And finally Lily picked out our nighttime venue. We went to the Empty Bottle to see Idle Ray and the Dry cleaning. Idle Ray had an interesting thing where all of their banter was pre-recorded. Very intriguing. The Dry Cleaning are from London, with a less cheerful Courtney Barnett feel. Really like them!

Day two of visiting Katie – we put on our super sonic sneakers and checked out the Loop Mural Walk. There are three walks downtown that feature 21 murals. Some are done by famous folks and some seem pretty local. Available now through July 4 – although it feels like those murals are pretty permanent. Doing the walk – and maybe diverging from the map a few times – we walked about 4 miles. It’s a fun walk through the loop. The walk isn’t tough but the navigation can be tricky.

Some of the murals are very obvious; some are harder to find but that’s part of the fun. We learned that if we swore we followed the map, we knew we were right, that the answer was to look up. Some of the best and biggest were a few flights up.

Another challenge was the one diversion into the pedestrian mall but it was the first time we had been in the mall so that was fun. Also, we went through the Chicago Cultural Center to get there, where we happened upon the filming of The 4400, which is apparently a TV show. We were thrilled!

We did get to take a walk through the alley side. (Pro Tip: walk on the side away from the garbage cans for fewer rat sightings!) Also we met a kind Irish man on Lower Wacker Drive, who pointed out (again kindly) that maybe we’d made a wrong turn. We were flattered that he cared and he probably wasn’t wrong.

It was a beautiful day. We kept walking after the murals and got another 3 miles under our belts. We visited a few things we always love to see – like the Harold Washington Library. (Snotty aside: I took classes there when I did my MLIS.) The Bean!! Of course I had to stop by the Art Institute of Chicago Lions – because I love them. The River walk is another fave.

Dad and I went to Chicago in part to visit Katie. Yay! Today we took a walk on the tree side with a trip to the Morton Arboretum. It’s about 30 minutes from where Katie lives. The Arboretum is all about the trees and walking paths and making it easy for people of all abilities to access the trees. Turns out, they have 1700 acres of land. There are lots of paths – some more paved that others but obviously so.

We noted that a mom (or two) with a bunch of kids could manage to get a few miles of walking in with their various half-mile or one-mile loops, a progressive picnic lunch and visit to the kids gallery. Back in the day were pretty much experts on that. You could get a stroller (or wheelchair) through most of the paths. Or I bet you could have a very meditative day walking on the various paths if that was your jam.

Today we were there for the Human + Nature exhibit, five large (15- to 26-foot-tall) statues hidden around the grounds. To be fair, they are less “hidden” if you pick up a map. Sculptor Daniel Popper hails from Cape Town, South Africa and his works have been seen all over the world. The statues are welcoming with open hands and open heart. Climbing on the statutes is not encouraged but you can easily walk through and touch it. They are a delight to see from a distance hidden in the woods and just as delighted to interact with at close range.

Pro Tip: they have some COVID-inspired rules, such as you need to sign up in advance. And special thanks: for letting us get around those rules. I’m not suggesting you thwart the rules; they are easy rules. Just appreciation for people who make space for other people, who sometimes don’t plan.

Also special mention to our delicious meal last night at D&J Bistro in Lake Zurich. I had foie gras for dinner. Tough to beat that unless you also started with share appetizers of scallops, cheese and beef tartare.

Finding social distance fun on our one-day vacation in Chicago, Auntie Katie, Aine and I checked out the 16^th Street Murals. The original plan was to walk the railroad embankment that’s covered with murals but it has snowed a lot in Chicago over the last week, there sidewalk wasn’t shoveled, Chicago traffic stop (or slows) for no dopey tourist and we realized the awesome warm weather mixed with a foot of snow would make for soggy toes. So we upped the safety in terms of traffic and COVID and did a driving tour.

The murals extend from Halsted to Western on West 16^th Street in Chicago. It started as a grass roots project but morphed into something more official through the Art In Public Places Initiative. The art rans the gamut from pleasant to political, to cartoonish, to striking. There’s art that reflect current culture (The Simpson’s). There’s art that features the faces, especially of people of color (sometimes in the art that color is blue!), with an intensity that looks right through the viewer. There are animals that are majestic (eagles) and gruesome (the rat). There’s religious art. There’s modern, abstract art. There are a few, not a lot, but a few murals with statements; those statements are at least as often in Spanish as English.

I want to include most of the art that we captured, but I also want to highlight some of my favorites:

More art:

Celebrating half the family getting their vaccines, some of the family traveled to Chicago to visit some of the rest of the family. So there’s been a lot of food, stories and laughs and a little art. Auntie Katie, Aine and I were lucky to get tickets to the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit in Chicago, a show we thought was sold out. We got so lucky!

The immersive experience spans four large, connected rooms. The idea is to sit and watch and listen. There are little socially distanced circles painted on the floor about six feet apart. This is a little COVID silver lining. It means nearly everyone sits down. The tallest guy in the room isn’t in front of you and no one is encroaching in your space. It makes it feel like a VIP experience.

The rooms are like castle walls with high ceilings, hints of columns and arches with a few large mirrors in the rooms. The videos of his work in motion are shown in all rooms on all walls on the floors. The videos are accompanied by loud music ranging from classic to recognizable to ambient to melodic drone. The experience is about 30 minutes, but it’s looped and you can hang out as long as you want. (There might be a time limit; we didn’t get to it.)

The action puts you in the middle of the works of art but really it feels more like you’re in the mind of Van Gogh.

The experience starts with giant bugs running across the wall. It reminded me immediately of AJ Isaacson-Zvidzwa, a young classical musician with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia who debuts a new composition (Angels Sang to Me) on March 5 (2021) at the Cedar Cultural Center (online). We had the opportunity to talk with her about a week ago. She told us that her mental health issues emerged when she was 12 years old and began to see insects that weren’t there.

I would love to see this show with AJ. I would love to have AJ score the show herself. The insights she gave me about her upcoming show, which are inspired by her experience with schizophrenia, helped me immerse myself into how the art and music on the experience helps us experience Van Gogh’s mental illness. From the bugs to the blurring of walls. The darkness and drone giving over to the yellow sunflowers. The multiple self portraits. The fleeting images of people in their daily life leading up to the bursts of colors, clouds and flowers and eventually into the swirling starry, starry night. It is entertaining and thought provoking.