Zodiac Heads Central Park New York
I was keen to see this sculpture by the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He had a recent failure at the Tate Modern in London when his 'beach' of porcelain beans was declared to be a health risk *.
He is currently under arrest in China and while I don't want to kick someone when they are down, Zodiac heads did not work for me. I suspect that his fame has more to do with his role as dissident than as an artist.
* Less than a week after opening, oft-arrested Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s installation in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has been closed to the public — and not for political reasons. Apparently noxious ceramic dust wafting off the 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds carpeting the large exhibition space. The museum has issued a statement saying, "Tate has been advised that this dust could be damaging to health following repeated inhalation over a long period of time. In consequence, Tate, in consultation with the artist, has decided not to allow visitors to walk across the sculpture."
To provide some balance about the Zodiac Heads, here is an explanation of the work
http://www.zodiacheads.com/index.html
The heads are enlarged versions of those that were designed in the 18th century by European Jesuits for the Manchu emperor Qianlong as part of a famous fountain clock in the European-style gardens of the Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, near Beijing. (Each of the originals spouted water for two hours a day, which may explain why the mouths of Mr. Ai’s copies are open, as if they are noisily expressing themselves.)
The heads were looted when this vast complex of buildings and gardens was ransacked and burned by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860, an event that remains a signal symbol of national humiliation. They began to resurface in 2000, and at this point the Chinese government has retrieved five of them (ox, tiger, horse, monkey and boar).
I tried to find positive review of this work as art rather than as a political gesture and the best I could do was this from the New York Times:
“Zodiac Heads” is a Conceptual work bodied forth as bronze sculpture that my colleague Holland Cotter rightly predicted would look “winsome” if you didn’t know the back story, but that becomes more subversive if you do. The heads are enlarged versions of those that were designed in the 18th century by European Jesuits for the Manchu emperor Qianlong as part of a famous fountain clock in the European-style gardens of the Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, near Beijing. (Each of the originals spouted water for two hours a day, which may explain why the mouths of Mr. Ai’s copies are open, as if they are noisily expressing themselves.)
He is currently under arrest in China and while I don't want to kick someone when they are down, Zodiac heads did not work for me. I suspect that his fame has more to do with his role as dissident than as an artist.
* Less than a week after opening, oft-arrested Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s installation in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall has been closed to the public — and not for political reasons. Apparently noxious ceramic dust wafting off the 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds carpeting the large exhibition space. The museum has issued a statement saying, "Tate has been advised that this dust could be damaging to health following repeated inhalation over a long period of time. In consequence, Tate, in consultation with the artist, has decided not to allow visitors to walk across the sculpture."
To provide some balance about the Zodiac Heads, here is an explanation of the work
http://www.zodiacheads.com/index.html
The heads are enlarged versions of those that were designed in the 18th century by European Jesuits for the Manchu emperor Qianlong as part of a famous fountain clock in the European-style gardens of the Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, near Beijing. (Each of the originals spouted water for two hours a day, which may explain why the mouths of Mr. Ai’s copies are open, as if they are noisily expressing themselves.)
The heads were looted when this vast complex of buildings and gardens was ransacked and burned by British and French troops during the Second Opium War in 1860, an event that remains a signal symbol of national humiliation. They began to resurface in 2000, and at this point the Chinese government has retrieved five of them (ox, tiger, horse, monkey and boar).
I tried to find positive review of this work as art rather than as a political gesture and the best I could do was this from the New York Times:
“Zodiac Heads” is a Conceptual work bodied forth as bronze sculpture that my colleague Holland Cotter rightly predicted would look “winsome” if you didn’t know the back story, but that becomes more subversive if you do. The heads are enlarged versions of those that were designed in the 18th century by European Jesuits for the Manchu emperor Qianlong as part of a famous fountain clock in the European-style gardens of the Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, near Beijing. (Each of the originals spouted water for two hours a day, which may explain why the mouths of Mr. Ai’s copies are open, as if they are noisily expressing themselves.)
The fine print
Date of visit : May 2011
