Chicago Chess 'Social Experiment'
Alexandra Kosteniuk's Chess Blog for Daily Chess News and Trivia (c) 2013
Hi everyone,
If you live anywhere near Chicago, no doubt you’ve seen the statues of two formidable lions guarding the entrance to the Art Institute.
But what you may not have noticed – or maybe you saw it, but didn’t know quite what to make of it – is another art installation of sorts, less than 300 feet from those famous lions.
Cecil Locke is the owner, founder and creator of the iconic ‘Touch and Go Chess Party” at the northeast corner of Jackson and Michigan Avenue.
This colorful one-of-a-kind display is basically a 26-foot-long outdoor chess and checkers table with Whirlygigs and teddy bears above, that spin and bob in the wind.
The space above the table is important to Locke. Tourists from all over the world, and locals too, take pictures of his creation, and he doesn’t want “negative space” above his chess display. He wants the photographs to be filled from top to bottom with beautiful objects and bright, happy colors like pink and yellow.
Read more »Hi everyone,
Lindia Paul of WBEZ91.5 profiles Cecil Locke whose chess party draws people of all backgrounds in Chicago. Are you up to a chess feature this weekend? (Photo left: (WBEZ/Linda Paul) Just south of the Art Institute, another Chicago cultural institution: The Touch and Go Chess Party.)
If you live anywhere near Chicago, no doubt you’ve seen the statues of two formidable lions guarding the entrance to the Art Institute.
But what you may not have noticed – or maybe you saw it, but didn’t know quite what to make of it – is another art installation of sorts, less than 300 feet from those famous lions.
Cecil Locke is the owner, founder and creator of the iconic ‘Touch and Go Chess Party” at the northeast corner of Jackson and Michigan Avenue.
This colorful one-of-a-kind display is basically a 26-foot-long outdoor chess and checkers table with Whirlygigs and teddy bears above, that spin and bob in the wind.
The space above the table is important to Locke. Tourists from all over the world, and locals too, take pictures of his creation, and he doesn’t want “negative space” above his chess display. He wants the photographs to be filled from top to bottom with beautiful objects and bright, happy colors like pink and yellow.
Artist and social experimenter Cecil Locke.“If you’re not an artist, you’ve got to be an engineer to build this,” he said. “Because it’s a lot of wing-nuts and you have to put things in sequence. It all boils down to electrical piping, hinges and wood.”
Locke studied art at Kennedy-King College and he describes his installation as a look at chess “through the eyes of an artist.” His street performer’s license allows him, in a sense, to perform chess in a public place, and others can join in if they want to.
“To me, it’s an experiment,” Locke said. “It’s an art project. “But it’s also a social experiment. You know, it’s what the public do when a highly decorated table is on a busy street corner.”
The demographic results of Cecil Locke’s experiment are impressive. There’s a steady stream of complete strangers who play chess together: Middle-aged men and women, young people, Asians, blacks, whites, Latinos. All this in a city that’s notoriously segregated.
“To me, it’s an experiment,” Locke said. “It’s an art project. “But it’s also a social experiment. You know, it’s what the public do when a highly decorated table is on a busy street corner.”
The demographic results of Cecil Locke’s experiment are impressive. There’s a steady stream of complete strangers who play chess together: Middle-aged men and women, young people, Asians, blacks, whites, Latinos. All this in a city that’s notoriously segregated.
Labels: cecil locke, chess feature, chicago chess, linda paul
posted by Chess Blog Admin @ 9:41 AM
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