Bat Colum Pix Mag
A portrait of the spectators and press covering the dedication of Claes Oldenburg's "Batcolumn" sculpture on April 14, 1977, outside of the newly-built Social Security Administration Center at 600 West Madison Street in downtown Chicago.
Oldenburg and Second Lady Joan Mondale sign autographs on an outdoor stage in front of which a large crowd is gathered. Next, Oldenburg is seen holding a miniature baseball bat as reporters film, photograph, and interview him. A long row of reporters are seen, carrying their cameras. A worker stacks chairs to clear the stage. A man takes a photograph of something tall off-camera. The feet of spectators on the granite stone of the plaza are seen stepping on two Polaroid photographs that are scattered on the ground. A child picks the photographs up and then drops them on the ground again. Other spectators bend down to look more closely at them, and then pick them up and discuss them. A spectator is looks intently upward. On the stage, Oldenburg and Mondale are instructed to pose for a photograph by a reporter. Oldenburg continues signing autographs as reporters with microphones record his remarks. A brief shot is cut in of a uniformed band playing saxophones. A man in a bow-tie is interviewed briefly as a woman hugs Oldenburg in the background. Oldenburg continues to mingle with the crowd, reporters, and photographers (Chicago filmmaker Bill Stamets can be seen filming with his Super 8 camera). Oldenburg is handed the miniature baseball bat again. Federal Protective Service officers survey the scene.