What was once the world’s largest building will soon be the site of the world’s largest permanent digital art projection. At around 7:15 pm on September 29, the massive façade of the Merchandise Mart (now called theMART) will light up as 34 projectors beam across the Chicago River to create an enormous and dynamic piece of public art.

Chicago is home to many striking works of public art, from the Picasso in Daley Plaza to Cloud Gate in Millennium Park to the murals of Pilsen, but none are quite like Art on theMART. First, there’s its size and prominence: the projection will cover 2.5 acres and is located directly on the River with nothing to obstruct it.

There’s also its mutability and medium. Unlike most public art, which is made of semi-permanent materials like metal, stone, or paint, Art on theMART consists of fleeting light. During the day, it won’t even be visible; it will only be displayed for up to two hours a night, five days a week (Wednesday through Sunday), for ten months of the year (March through December). And because it is a projection rather than something solid, it can change throughout its existence, featuring the works of different artists over time. (Perhaps the closest parallel can be found across the river at 150 North Riverside Plaza, where digital art has been displayed on LED blades as part of 150 Media Stream since 2017.)

The inaugural program, which will run until December 31, features the work of four artists. Two – Jan Tichy and Jason Salavon – are Chicago-based artists selected by the Terra Foundation for American Art as part of their Art Design Chicago initiative (WTTW’s upcoming series and website Art & Design in Chicago is also part of the initiative). Their work is “focused on really tapping into the creative DNA of Chicago as a city,” says Cynthia Noble, executive director of Art on theMART.

Tichy, a Czech-born professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago whose work often addresses social and political issues, has created Artes in Horto: Seven Gardens for Chicago. It “takes inspiration from the place of nature in Chicago’s urban space,” he explains, and seeks to challenge the public “to reconsider their relationship to urban nature.”

Salavon was born in Indiana and formerly worked in the video game industry before beginning to exhibit his work. He is now a professor at the University of Chicago. His Homage in Between draws on archives of Chicago painters to explore and celebrate the city’s artistic legacy.

A rendering of Jason Salavon's 'Homage in Between' for Art on theMART in Chicago. Image: Art on theMART

The other two artists featured in the inaugural program were selected by Art on theMART’s curatorial advisory board, which is made up of Chicago curators and artists. The Los Angeles-based Diana Thater’s work often focuses the natural world, and her True Life Adventures is no exception. “It’s a kind of safari film made in Kenya over the last two years,” she says. “I am continually inspired by the overlay of nature and culture and am excited to bring a bit of the wild to a great city.” Including footage of large animals such as giraffes, elephants, rhinos, and zebras – “icons of the wild,” she calls them – True Life Adventures is “conceptualized as a collage of colorful images that is non-narrative so viewers don’t have to wait for a story to play out,” she says.

Shanghai- and San Francisco-based Zheng Chongbin is inspired by both ancient Chinese ink drawings and Western abstract art. His Chimeric Landscape is a mercurial piece about our changing world. “All four artists are each pioneering the relationship between digital art and architecture in unique ways that ultimately operate on multiple levels,” says Noble, the executive director.

While Art on theMART is primarily a visual work, the opening night on September 29 will also include audio, as well as a fireworks show at 8:00 pm. After that, audio for each piece will be available on the Art on theMART website. Given that Art on theMART is an unprecedented venture in Chicago, the curatorial advisory board have not yet determined the best way to proceed with programming when it relaunches in March of 2019; they’re hoping to learn from the inaugural program. “Right now, we are thinking about programming seasonally, but we would like to be responsive to what we learn from this first installation and program accordingly,” says Noble.

“It is my hope that each person who witnesses Art on theMART is actively engaged in this immersive experience,” she says, “an experience I hope becomes a part of the city’s cultural fabric, transforming the very nature of its urban landscape.”

There’s a huge amount of worthwhile TV out there nowadays, so it can be hard to choose what to watch. But who better to recommend shows than the person who programs them? Dan Soles, Senior Vice President and Chief Television Officer at WTTW, constructs the WTTW schedule by searching through offerings from many different sources which include the national PBS network, the BBC, and independent filmmakers to put together a varied and engaging broadcast schedule. Each month, he’ll recommend a few shows that he thinks you should watch.

POV: Dark Money

Monday, October 1 at 9:00 pm

As the midterm elections approach, we’re airing two thoughtful documentaries investigating elections in today’s world. Dark Money shows a reporter’s attempt to expose the hidden, unlimited funding of anonymous campaign contributions in Montana. I Voted? (airing Thursday, October 18 at 9:00 pm) looks at election security and accuracy, and whether we can count on the votes we cast. These are both non-partisan issues that are vital to democracy, so they’re important watches.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Guns for Hire

Thursday, October 4 at 9:00 pm

This is one of my personal interests that I have to call attention to here because I really enjoy it. Like the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, this show gets up onstage with musical legends and takes a look at the background, at the integral sidemen who have supported stars from The Rolling Stones to Billy Joel to Prince. It’s a view you don’t normally see, and it’s thrilling.

Art and Design in Chicago

Fridays, October 5, 12, 26, and November 2 at 8:30 pm

Chicago’s visual arts are often overlooked in favor of artistic scenes on the country’s coasts, but our city has long nurtured a vibrant creative community in both the fine art and commercial design worlds. WTTW’s Art and Design in Chicago grants these scenes the attention they deserve in four episodes, from female sculptors at the 1893 World’s Fair to a husband-and-wife design team who redesigned the visual aspects of the Cubs and Wrigley Field, from a self-taught Bronzeville sculptor to a man who took up drawing in the last decade of his life and became influential to other Chicago artists. And don’t miss the chance to see more of the art and discover more of these incredible people at wttw.com/artdesignchicago!

Itzhak Perlman: American Masters

Sunday, October 14 at 9:00 pm

This moving biography gives you a real sense of the renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman, following him as he moves through everyday life and vastly different settings, from playing the national anthem to performing in a concert to visiting a violin shop. It has a little bit of everything, and is pleasant revelation of the humanity in a legendary artist.

Autumnwatch New England

October 17, 18, and 19 at 8:00 pm

This is the third year in a row the PBS has traveled to a stunning natural area of the United States to give you a real-time glimpse of fleeting moments in nature. Following trips to Monterey and Alaska, this year you'll get to see the glorious foliage and autumn of New England at its peak in same-day footage and broadcasts. It's not to be missed, because the beatuy of the fall is fleeting!

Native America

Tuesdays beginning October 23 at 9:00 pm

We hear and know too little about America’s incredible First Peoples and the splendid civilizations they built hundreds or thousands of years before Europeans came to this hemisphere. This enlightening four-part series rectifies that. Explore the ancient cultures and achievements of Native Americans, from their vast governments and cities to their scientific and cosmological knowledge, and see their commitment to the land and the natural world.

The “Queen of the Blues” would turn 90 today, were she still alive. Koko Taylor’s unforgettable, raspy voice helped her become one of Chicago’s star blues musicians, as well as a powerful woman in a male-dominated genre. She was born to poor sharecroppers outside of Memphis, Tennessee and worked in the fields picking cotton. All the while, she sang, inspired by the blues she heard on the radio, in the fields, in the house, in the yard.

She came north to Chicago with her soon-to-be husband Robert “Pops” Taylor to find work. “I came to Chicago in a Greyhound bus,” she recalled. “Everything was all lit up and beautiful, and I said, ‘Good God, this must be heaven.” She began cleaning houses in North Shore suburbs to make a living. But she also attended clubs where the Chicago blues was played, and soon began performing in them when bands would call her up on stage to sing with them for a song or two.

Eventually, the songwriter, arranger, and musician Willie Dixon heard her, and brought her to Chess Records, the label for Chicago’s blues legends: Dixon, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter. Chess signed Taylor, and Dixon began producing and writing songs for her, including her biggest hit: “Wang Dang Doodle,” which she recorded in 1965. It topped the R&B charts for thirteen weeks and even crossed over to the pop charts. (Listen to Taylor perform some of the song with Willie Dixon and hear the meaning of the nonsensical-seeming title explained.)

But Taylor’s success came at the wrong moment. The blues was losing its popularity in the African American community as soul, funk, and R&B rose to take its place. “Wang Dang Doodle” ended up being Chess Records’ last blues hit.

White America was beginning to take notice of the blues, however, as British bands like The Rolling Stones, inspired by the Chicago blues from across the ocean, introduced the genre to a larger audience. Taylor eventually found a new label, owned, like Chess Records, by a white man: Bruce Iglauer’s Alligator Records. Iglauer initially refused Taylor, having only worked with male musicians who both sang and played an instrument, but in the face of her persistence, he relented and signed her. She eventually recorded ten albums for Alligator.

Over the course of her career, she won twenty-nine W.C. Handy/Blues Music Awards, more than any other artist. She was nominated seven times for Grammys and won one in 1984. She was the first woman inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. But despite her achievements and accolades, she never rested on her laurels, endlessly traveling the country to perform over 100 shows a year. After her remarkable career, she died of complications from surgery at age 80, in 2009.

The Durrells in Corfu airs Sundays at 7:00 pm and is available to stream. Read our recaps of the previous season here.

After the tumultuous departures of Vasilia and Hugh, you’d think that the Durrells would be taking a break from romance – and they mostly are. Larry is writing his third novel, trying to come up with a suitable pseudonym. Louisa has given up on love for now, and Margo has dropped her Turkish boyfriend. But romantic drama has found a new, unexpected outlet. Leslie, of all people, is dating – three women at once.

Who are they? Louisa is very interested in finding out. She tried to get Spyros to convince Leslie that promiscuity is wrong, but the older Greek just encouraged him. So now she and Spyros are off to judge the women for themselves, against Leslie’s wishes. Louisa insists she just wants to meet them, but everyone apprised of her plan knows she’ll just choose her favorite for Leslie.

Louisa doesn't want any more pets at the house, but that doesn't stop Gerry. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE And that’s exactly what she does. She is unimpressed by the confident Daphne and the fashionable baker Dionisia, who doesn’t speak English and happens to be the housemaid Luga’s niece. But the polite Tsanta, who works at a church, is the perfect match for Leslie – at least in Louisa’s eyes.

The rest of the family disagrees. Margo, who has begun to fill her time by making sculptures out of soap, including one of a pelican eating Leslie, prefers Dionisia for her style, as does Luga, for obvious reasons. Larry advocates for Daphne, whose supposed love of animals draws Gerry to her side as well.

Gerry needs another defender of animals around, for Louisa has refused to have any more creatures at the house: feeding them is getting too expensive. If Gerry wants more pets, they have to be useful, like goats. Not like flamingos – but that doesn’t stop Gerry from adopting a pair. And when he finds some intriguing amphibians, he justifies bringing them home by releasing the Durrells’ chickens into the wild, slyly twisting Louisa’s words: they still have the same amount of animals, just different ones.

Larry insists that he broke his leg but no one else believes him. Photo: Joss Barratt for Sid Gentle Films & MASTERPIECE While Gerry shows initiative, Larry loafs around and complains. He tripped over the dog and is convinced that he broke a bone, though no one believes him, given that he’s an attention-loving diva. Louisa tries to help by asking Theo to examine Larry, but Theo insists he’s not that kind of doctor. Nonetheless, he is inspired to go to Athens and bring back an x-ray machine to help public health on the island. While he’s away, Leslie crafts an unwieldy plaster cast for Larry.

Hobbling along on crutches, Larry accompanies Gerry to invite Daphne to tea, hoping that if she meets the family Leslie will be forced to choose her. Unfortunately, everyone else has had the same idea. So when Sunday tea arrives, Daphne, Tsanta, and Dionisia all appear – and none of them knew that Leslie had other girlfriends. How to fix this supremely awkward situation?

Louisa turns to her Aunt Hermione, who has returned from a European sojourn in the nick of time: Hermione will choose the right girl for Leslie. But Hermione is a changed woman, having found love the last time she was in Corfu. She refuses to police Leslie’s actions; she herself has two suitors back in England, plus the gentleman she met in Corfu. All of Leslie’s girlfriends leave.

Now Leslie is despondent – but also a bit relieved that he no longer has to juggle three women. He admits that he was reluctant to end any of the relationships because he figured he would get dumped by all of them anyway; with three girlfriends he had a better chance of retaining one. Louisa tells him to choose the one he liked best and go tell her his feelings. Luckily, Dionisia isn’t holding a grudge. She joins the Durrells for dinner, getting to share a meal with them in a much less uncomfortable situation.

And what of Larry’s leg? After much effort, Theo and Spyros manage to remove his cast and take an x-ray; he has broken nothing. The histrionic episode does at least lead Margo to a new way to spend her time: as Theo struggles with Larry’s cast, she realizes she has helpful advice – so she’ll become Theo’s new assistant. Even better, she’s also good with babies, and Florence has been struggling to calm her newborn. Since Theo’s x-ray machine is set up in Florence’s husband’s office, Margo can help both of them out: a nanny and medical assistant, rolled into one.

Poldarkairs Sundays at 8:00 pm and is available to stream.Catch up with recaps from season 3.

Poldark is back! This season, we divide our time between the picturesque village of Sawle atop the craggy cliffs of Cornwall, and the extravagant hedonism of late-18th century London. Get ready for plenty of foolish heroics, disastrous decisions, heartbreaking tragedy, exhilarating triumph, gripping suspense, and good versus evil…plus a really cute dog!

When we last left Ross and Demelza, their marriage was in crisis. Demelza was certain that Ross was still involved with his first love Elizabeth (after a rage-filled one-night stand with Ross, she had nonetheless married his archenemy George Warleggan, Member of Parliament). Demelza, for her part, had just yielded to the advances of the dishy but frail Hugh Armitage (likewise, a one-time “pity/revenge” event). After Elizabeth threatened to leave him, George vowed to her that he would no longer question the paternity of their son Valentine (who looks an awful lot like Ross), but can he keep his promise? And will Elizabeth stop sending mixed messages to Ross?

As usual George is livid... about pretty much everything. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE Demelza’s handsome brother Drake, the town blacksmith, continued to pine for poor, abused Morwenna, who had been forced by George to marry obsequious foot fetishist (and Reverend) Ossie Whitworth. Morwenna, desperate to keep Ossie out of her bed – and presumably, away from her feet – bluffed that she would murder their infant son. (Pretending to be crazy has been working for her, so far.) Ossie took up with Morwenna’s conniving sister Rowella, who blackmailed him and used the proceeds to marry lowly librarian Arthur Solway. Ross’s best friend, Dr. Dwight Enys, having recovered from his prisoner-of-war trauma, settled down with his wife, wealthy heiress Caroline, and their adorable pug, Horace. And Demelza’s other brother Sam, a pious Methodist preacher, was still hopelessly attracted to the bawdy Emma.

Got all that? Here we go…

We begin underwater in the ocean just off Hendrawna Beach – a man swims by overhead, clad only in breeches, then strides moodily ashore through the booming surf. The scriptwriter must have been reading the fan message boards, because it’s Ross, dripping wet and glorious. As he fantasizes about Demelza’s encounter with Armitage, his wife appears in reality, making her way barefoot down the dune with their two children – young Jeremy running to his papa, and Demelza toting their flaxen-haired daughter Clowance. Yep, they’re still together, as the opening credits roll.

Cut to London, circa 1796, and a volatile session of Parliament. Prime Minister William Pitt calls for a special election, which could unseat many of the Members. We later see George venting about it to his dissatisfied patron, Sir Francis Bassett, when they encounter Bassett’s rival-in-power, Lord Falmouth, with his nephew Armitage in tow. Falmouth informs them that Armitage is throwing his hat in the ring for George’s seat. George is livid, his usual state.

Armitage is suffering from migraines and worsening eyesight, but he's still writing love letters to Demelza and may run against George in Parliament. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Armitage, suffering from migraines and worsening vision, is still writing sappy love poems to a conflicted Demelza. At Nampara, servant Prudie debates with herself whether to give Demelza the latest one, but leaves it on the table.

At Ross’s mine, we meet Zacky Martin’s hotheaded son Jago, who complains bitterly to Ross and Zacky about merchants exporting grain needed to feed the starving poor, who are becoming desperate.

Ross, Dwight, and Caroline watch Demelza and her children happily frolicking on the beach. Caroline, previously dismissive about having children, appears to be wavering. Dwight is surprised and pleased. By all indications, Demelza is warming toward Ross as well.

Cut to a ceremony in the cemetery, where a sanctimonious Ossie is saying a prayer over Aunt Agatha’s newly installed headstone. Drake lurks on the sidelines, mooning at Morwenna, and afterward there is discussion of the escalating unrest in the village. Bassett urges George to “read the riot act” to any dissenters, and then invites himself and his wife over to Ross and Demelza’s home for tea. Ross smilingly accepts, and the next scene finds Demelza, Caroline, and the Poldarks’ servant Prudie frantically straightening up in advance of the visit. “I could crown Ross!” fumes Demelza. As she clears the table, she finds Armitage’s poem. She slips upstairs to read it, hastily hides it, and later burns it.

Caroline and Dwight are taking a new step in their family and relationship. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Elizabeth tells George she is worried about an uprising – with good reason, as we cut to the quay where the angry townspeople are squaring off against the exporters and law enforcement, with Jago Martin one of the main instigators. In the melee, Jago decks a grain merchant, who is killed in the fall. Sam and Drake vainly attempt to break up the fight. George’s thuggish servant Tom Harry sees them in the thick of it and, knowing George has it in for anyone related to Ross, hurries to Trenwith to tip him off about the riot and falsely accuse Sam and Drake.

Bassett shares with the landowners a list of the accused; Jago, Drake, and Sam are on it, and Ross and Dwight offer to arrest them themselves rather than leave them to George’s thugs. Ross promises that he will stand up for them in court, but he and Dwight arrive late, as George has maliciously moved up the time of the trial, and they can only watch as Jago, Drake, and Sam are sentenced to death by hanging. Ross is not giving up without a fight, however, and he asks Dwight to keep Demelza in the dark about her brothers’ plight. Dwight thinks this is a bad idea (this will be a recurring theme).

As George smugly looks on, Ross appeals to an unyielding Bassett for leniency. Meanwhile at the vicarage, Ossie gripes to Morwenna about having to pray for some “Methodist” rioters being executed. Later, fearing that one of them could be Drake, she slips away to find out.

To keep Demelza away from the hanging, Ross urges her to accompany the Enyses on a visit to Falmouth and Armitage, whose headaches are getting worse. Dwight now doubts that Armitage is well enough to stand for Parliament. Demelza suggests to Falmouth that he mend fences with Bassett so they can unite behind another candidate to defeat George. Falmouth scoffs at the notion, but is intrigued. Later, Armitage tries to manipulate Demelza into resuming their affair, but resolutely, she breaks it off for good.

Sam and Drake find themselves in grave danger after an uprising over grain. Photo: Mammoth Screen for BBC and MASTERPIECE

Back in the village, the hanging is about to commence. Jago swears that Drake and Sam are innocent, and Ross delivers an impassioned speech to the magistrate and the crowd, arguing for compassion. It works, and Drake and Sam are reprieved – but not Jago, who hangs. Zacky is devastated as Ross tries to comfort him. Drake locks eyes with a hooded Morwenna at the back of the crowd before she quickly decamps, making it back to the vicarage moments before a suspicious Ossie arrives to check on her.

Dwight suggests to Ross that he ought to consider running for Parliament after all, as Armitage is unfit. That night by the fire, Dwight muses to Caroline how ironic it is that the “more robust” Armitage is failing while he himself grows stronger. Caroline asks, meaningfully, if he is “strong enough to consider an addition to their household.” Yes, she’s pregnant, and Dwight is jubilant. Horace is not so sure.

Ross finally tells Demelza about the hanging, now that her brothers have been saved. She is, to say the least, relieved. Later, Ross admits that he may have taken her for granted; Demelza thinks there is some blame on both sides. Together, they resolve to do better. But will they?

Frontline: Trump’s Showdownairs and is available to stream Tuesday, October 2 at 9:00 pm.

As the 2018 midterm elections approach, with their potential to drastically change the power dynamic in Washington by changing the balance of power in Congress from Republicans to Democrats, it’s easy to forget about many of the political events of the last two years and lose track of some of the longer narratives of Donald Trump’s presidency. So Frontline is airing Trump’s Showdown, an in-depth examination of how we got to a moment where the Justice Department and the White House have become embroiled in a conflict over special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia or if Trump has obstructed justice.

“It’s the idea that let’s step back and see structurally: what about Donald Trump’s method when he came to Washington got him into this situation, what about Washington’s response to his victory, by the intelligence community and the Justice Department, led us to where we are,” explains Michael Kirk, the producer of Trump’s Showdown. “Understanding all that in one two-hour gulp, so that the next time you walk into the voting booth you have a little bit better information than hundreds of tweets from the President and the partisans on both sides. As [Trump’s attorney] Rudy Giuliani says, the American people are the jury here.”

Trump obviously looms large over the midterms, and the elections could have a dramatic effect on his presidency. “It’s a sort of mother’s milk of politics nowadays,” Kirk says. “If you’re a Republican you want to run with Trump, if you’re a Democrat you want to run against him. Trump can control Republicans’ ability to be re-elected, and they’ll do what they have to do to win his favor and therefore the favor of his base.” (For more on how Trump has transformed the Republican Party and won their loyalty, read an interview with Kirk about Frontline: Trump’s Takeover, which is available to stream.)

For some, that means adopting the aggressive and brash approach that Trump learned in part from his mentor Roy Cohn, as was evident in the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week concerning sexual assault allegations against the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, when both Kavanaugh and Senator Lindsey Graham gave impassioned and accusatory speeches. “Many of the people were following the adage of speaking to an audience of one, which is the president, who has internalized and actualized the Roy Cohn aggressiveness and likes to see it in other people,” Kirk says of the hearing. “Kavanaugh’s testimony certainly appealed to the President, as he took the approach that Trump believes in his soul is the way to win a political fight.”

While that aggressive strategy may have proven successful, it has also affected American institutions like the Justice Department and the intelligence community, especially in the battle over the Mueller investigation. “In the analysis of Jack Goldsmith, the head of the Office of Legal Counsel in the George W. Bush administration and a conservative Republican and law professor [who appears in Trump’s Showdown], Trump doesn’t really care about collateral damage in his politics,” relates Kirk. “He’s not at all concerned about the individuals whom he attacks personally, which is a standard thing for him to do: aim it at Mueller himself, aim it at [former director of the FBI] James Comey himself, rather than the institution, and nevertheless take down the institution as well.

“The collateral damage of taking down individuals is one thing – I guess that’s fair game in politics – but taking down and undermining as a political strategy, a self-preservation strategy, is something fairly new, or if not new, then rare. It’s aggressive, fight, fight, fight, never give up, never say you’ve lost. That is so woven into Trump from his life and New York and now his life in Washington against what he calls the witch hunt. It’s his winning strategy.”

Leon Lederman, a physicist who won a Nobel Prize in 1988 and spent much of his career at Fermilab outside Chicago, died Wednesday at the age of 96. In addition to demonstrating that there are at least two kinds of particles called neutrinos (we now know of three), the discovery for which he was awarded the Nobel along with two colleagues, he also led a team at Illinois's Fermilab that discovered the bottom quark, came up with the name "the God particle" for the Higgs boson, and was respected as an accessible promulgator of discoveries about the subatomic world. In addition to Fermilab, he also worked at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, Columbia University, and the University of Chicago. 

Watch Lederman describe quarks to WTTW's John Callaway in a 1979 interview:

5:30 pm reception; 6:30 pm program

Join us at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Claudia Cassidy Theater for a panel discussion and excerpts from Art & Design in Chicago, WTTW’s new series on the history of art and design in the city. There will be a reception with light refreshments at 5:30 pm, followed at 6:30 by a panel discussion with series producer Dan Andries and local artists and educators featured in the series, along with excerpts from the programs.

To reserve your space for this free event, please email lwilcox@wttw.com.