Art-Forward Costumes
blog intro
With the window for trick-or-treating rapidly approaching, we thought we'd help out any procrastinators looking for a costume. And since our gallery guards and Visitor Service Associates spend a lot of time getting to know the works on view, we asked a few of them what artwork from the collection they would want to make into a costume. Their inspirations, which are shown in the video, varied wildly; each selection is also listed below. To find your own art-inspired costume, view our entire collection online.
Featured work
Jeff Koons, Rabbit, 1986
"It's one of the most interesting works in the exhibition."
—CHARLES, SECURITY
- What you’ll need:
- Garbage bags
- Rabbit ears
Silver spray paint
- Directions:
- Lay garbage bags and rabbit ears on newspapers in a well-ventilated space
- Spray paint garbage bags and ears
- Let dry
- Tie garbage bags around arms, legs, and body
- Inflate; good ‘ol oxygen from those healthy lungs should do
Put on ears
Work
Albert Oehlen, Auch Einer (Another One), 1985
—GRAHAM, VISITOR SERVICES/BOX OFFICE
Featured work
Ed Paschke, Heavy Shoes, 1970
—SERENA, SECURITY
![J9G63CIN](https://media.mcachicago.org/image/J9G63CIN/rendering-little-face-costume_thumbnail.jpg) ## Little Face ---- —BRIAN, SECURITY - What you'll need: - Plastic box - Blue and red paint - Bottle caps glasses Cardboard - Directions: - Make a plastic box to use as frame around your face - Paint your nose blue and your lips bright red - Make/buy bottle-cap glasses Use the cardboard to make a "Blow Me" sign—a hint at Calder's desire for his sculptures to move ## Featured work ---- Marisol (Marisol Escobar), _Six Women_, 1965–66 "This would be the perfect group costume." —CAITLIN, VISITOR SERVICES // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before ## Featured work ---- Yinka Shonibare MBE RA, _Alien Obsessives, Mum, Dad and the Kids_, 1998 "I really like the patterns, colors, and their eyes." —JANICE, SECURITY // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before ## Featured work ---- Jeff Koons, _Lifeboat_, 1985 // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before ![J9G7PRLS](https://media.mcachicago.org/image/J9G7PRLS/ernesto-neto_thumbnail.jpg) ## Lifeboat Water Falls ---- "Conceived as a half-and-half costume, Lifeboat Water Falls combines the net form of the Neto with the lifeboat—two water-themed artworks." —MISTEAD, VISITOR SERVICES ## Featured work ---- Olafur Eliasson, _Convex/concave_, 1995/2000 —MEGAN, VISITOR SERVICES // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before ## Featured Work ---- <blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-version="7" style=" background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding:8px;"> <div style=" background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50.0% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;"> <div style=" background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;">[div](/div)[div](/div)<p style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BazUKSph4C5/" style=" color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Mapi from Toulouse 🇫🇷 (@proudmotherofdrionnecian)[a](/a) on <time style=" font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;" datetime="2017-10-28T18:29:56+00:00">Oct 28, 2017 at 11:29am PDT[time](/time)[p](/p)[div](/div)[blockquote](/blockquote) <script async defer src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js">[script](/script) Takashi Murakami, _Wink Sculpture (pink)_, 2001 —JONNATHAN, SECURITY ## Featured work ---- Cindy Sherman, _Untitled #137_, 1984 —ANONYMOUS, SECURITY // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before ## Featured work ---- Maurizio Cattelan, _Felix_, 2001 —FAN FAVORITE // FIXME collection pages are not linked the same as before```