The Chicago History Museum is dipping into to its five-decade archive of architectural photos for a new multimedia art installation. Officially titled Chicago 00: Spaces, the project will be displayed on the 3,000-square-foot 150 Media Stream LED wall in the lobby of Chicago’s recently completed 150 N. Riverside office tower. The array of 89 LED “blades” will present an ever-morphing composite of black and white and color images captured between 1929 and 1979 by Chicago-based architectural photography firm Hedrich Blessing.
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The project is part of the larger Chicago 00 artistic collaboration between the museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes. The partnership seeks to reimagine the cultural institution’s vast photography collection into creative media experiences.
In addition to the LED show, the initiative also offers augmented reality tours at the site of the S.S. Eastland capsize along the Chicago Riverwalk as well as virtual reality experiences of the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the 1933-1934 Century of Progress World’s Fair.
Spaces makes its debut at 150 N. Riverside today and will run through the end of January. Members of the public are encouraged to check out the dynamic installation during designated viewing hours on Fridays from 6–8 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 1–5 p.m.
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- Chicago 00: Chicago history experience [website]
- Chicago History Museum Image Archives [CHM]
- Office lobby to feature Chicago’s largest LED display [Curbed Chicago]