Filmed in Chicago, Dr Ian Davis on why Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate looks just like the shiny droplets dentists used to see when an amalgam filling hadn't been mixed properly.
Key points
- Cloud Gate, better known as the Bean, is a sculpture in Chicago by the artist Anish Kapoor.
- Its mirror-like surface was inspired by liquid mercury.
- Amalgam, the material in silver fillings, is mercury mixed with silver, tin and copper.
- If amalgam hadn't been mixed properly, dentists would sometimes see very shiny droplets, just like the Bean.
- If you have a metal filling that is still doing its job, it is usually best left alone. Dr Davis explains why in Should I replace my metal fillings?
Transcript
Hello, this is Ian Davis from BDS Dental. As you can probably tell, I'm not in London, I'm in Chicago.
Right behind me is one of the most famous sculptures in Chicago. It was originally called the Cloud Gate, but nowadays it's more commonly known as the Bean, by the artist Anish Kapoor. It's really wonderful, it's incredibly reflective, and in fact it was actually inspired by the metal mercury.
And for those dentists who used to use amalgam quite often, occasionally you would see droplets of amalgam. If amalgam hadn't been mixed properly, you'd see these very shiny droplets that would appear. And this is exactly what it would look like: domes of very shiny metal.
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You can really see the reflective surface and how amazing it is.
