Single slice of cheese in window on Chicago's Armitage Avenue goes viral on social media
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Last month, Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan's work involving a banana duct-taped to a wall sold for $6.2 million.
But the Chicago equivalent can be seen for free.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream used to operate a location at 900 W. Armitage Ave., at Fremont Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The ice cream shop—which had shared the ground floor of a vintage building with a Foxtrot market—closed at the end of May.
In the old Jeni's storefront today, passersby will find a lone cheese slice in the window—a Kraft single, specifically.
A note, written by an anonymous admirer and taped next to the cheese, said it had been there since August—weathering the heat, rain, and snow:
"This is cheese on Armitage. Well it's kind of cheese on Jeni's but Jeni's is gone so now it's cheese on a window on Armitage. First found on August 22, 2024. Yes, found. I (anonymous writer) cannot take credit for this incredible piece of modern art. One day someone stuck this cheese to a window on Armitage and now every day I admire it. Thank you cheese. I could tell you that this cheese is symbolic of not taking life too seriously and that nothing really matters, that free will is an incredible tool to bring joy. But I think that would to the cheese a great disservice and go against what the cheese really is. Because it is nothing and means nothing. It is just cheese on a window on Armitage."
The untitled piece of artwork is now going viral online.
A commenter on the Chicago subreddit wrote, "Rat hole is so 2023. Everyone embrace cheese on Armitage."
In fairness to the redditor, the Chicago "rat hole"—that since-removed rodent-shaped indentation in the concrete on the sidewalk in Roscoe Village—did not become an internet sensation until January 2024, though it was there well before 2023.
