INDO creates art installation for Taste of Chicago

INDO's Art installation inside the "Celebrity Chef du Jour" dining tent.

courtesy Linsey Burritt and Crystal Grover / INDO

Who says bigger is necessarily better? This year’s Taste of Chicago may be smaller in size and shorter in duration, but it seems the city is emphasizing quality over quantity. Case in point: the Celebrity Chef du Jour dining tent featuring not only local celebrity chefs, but also an art installation by local duo Linsey Burritt and Crystal Grover of the design collaborative INDO.

Burritt and Grover founded INDO in 2007 and began their business by designing window displays created from salvaged materials for stores and boutiques. Their design philosophy is straightforward: “We are designers seeking to inspire small changes towards a better world. Our window displays are constructed with materials that have been diverted from the waste-stream.”

From retail window displays, they’ve branched out into other types of installations, including a major commission for Steppenwolf Theater. Their Script Wall in the Garage Theatre is composed of 5,800 pounds of used paper. (That’s 142,000 sheets!)

The city’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) partnered with the Chicago Artists’ Coalition (CAC) to select a local artist, designer or collaborative to create the Celebrity Chef du Jour installation. Burritt and Grover’s winning design features 200 sheets of salvaged polypropylene (screenprinted in muted shades of red) that hang from the ceiling of the dining tent. Each 2’ x 3’ sheet is impressive in size and pristine in condition, qualities that Burritt says helped determine their use in the installation.

The overall effect is dazzling, adding to the dining ambiance without distracting from the star attraction: the food. Billed on the city’s website as “a brand new dining experience," the Celebrity Chef du Jour dining tent will present cuisine of a different chef each day of the Taste. (Wednesday kicks off the event with Mexique’s Carlos Gaytan and his signature French/Mexican fusion.)

Only a select few will be able to enjoy the installation inside the Celebrity Chef du Jour dining tent. But you can see other samples of INDO’s work at its upcoming open house (hosted with studio partners Strand Design) on August 2 from 6–9pm at 1008 West Randolph Street.