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Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park, Chicago. The sculpture is shaped like an ellipse, and its legume-like appearance has caused it to be nicknamed “The Bean”. It is made of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates, and stands at 33 feet high, 66 feet long, and 42 feet wide, weighing 110 tons. From a distance it could be mistaken for a huge drop of mercury, while up close its highly reflective surface captures and transforms the skyline, the downtown cityscape and even the passers-by into a wonderfully warped new vista. The artist, Anish Kapoor, has referred to the sculpture as “a gate to Chicago, a poetic idea about the city it reflects.” The 12-foot underbelly is called the “omphalos” or navel and multiplies reflections in a vortex.

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The sculpture attracted some controversy in 2005, when a professional photographer was denied access to the piece without a paid permit. The artist holds the copyright for the sculpture: this means that, while the public can freely photograph it, permission of the artist is required for any commercial reproductions. This is the case for all works of art currently covered by United States copyright law, and is not specific to this work. Lack of knowledge of the laws around this issue, and lack of clarity about the original denial to photograph the work of art, led to an Internet protest in which people started uploading their own personal photos of the work of art wherever possible, and most prominently to popular photo-sharing website Flickr