Back to Hermann Park and Ai Weiwei's Circle of Animals.
You might remember from last week that Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads
is Ai Weiwei's re-creation on an oversized scale of the traditional zodiac sculptures
that once adorned the fabled fountain at Yuanming Yuan outside Beijing.
Designed by two European Jesuits in the 18th century the original animal heads surrounding the fountain-clock of Yuanming Yuan spouted water every two hours. In 1860, French and British troops raided Yuanming Yuan, and the heads were looted. To date only seven of the legendary 12 heads have been recovered; the location of the remaining five is still unknown.
is Ai Weiwei's re-creation on an oversized scale of the traditional zodiac sculptures
that once adorned the fabled fountain at Yuanming Yuan outside Beijing.
Designed by two European Jesuits in the 18th century the original animal heads surrounding the fountain-clock of Yuanming Yuan spouted water every two hours. In 1860, French and British troops raided Yuanming Yuan, and the heads were looted. To date only seven of the legendary 12 heads have been recovered; the location of the remaining five is still unknown.
The Circle of Animals overlooks McGovern Lake in Hermann Park.
Each head, without the pedestal, measures at least 4 feet in length.
The Horse
The Goat, The Monkey, The Pig and The Dog
The Rooster
You might remember Ai Weiwei, Chinese artist, architect and social activist,
from the 2008 Olympics in China.
He designed the famous Bird's Nest.
Because he is a critic of censorship and human rights violations, he has been in prison, tortured and is currently on a heavily restricted travel visa.
That made siting this exhibition difficult.
Google maps helped save the day!
The exhibition will move on to Princeton University
and then to the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C.
Thank you to the Our World hosts.
Wishing you WELL and a JOY filled week.
(P.S. I'm having back problems. Not nice since I had back surgery in 2003. Sitting at the computer is difficult. I'll see you when I can.)
31 comments:
What an incredible site.
The Birds Nest stadium was/is absolutely magnificent!
These heads are amazing. And so is the story about Ai Weiwei. I saw a documentary program about him and was immediately touched. It's so tragic that he's being kept prisoner and his art is not allowed to flourish.
Sorry to hear about your back problems. I hope you're feeling better soon.
Thanks Snap for sharing these sculptures with us... I loved the ones from a previous post.. BUT--these are even better. Love the rooster... WOW!!!!!! AND--I like the PIG.... Thanks!!!!
We are home from our 2nd trip is a month--and both of us have colds.. Yuk! Guess it will be REST for this upcoming week for both of us.
Hugs,
Betsy
They're stunning!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
These are awesome, Snap! Thank you so much for sharing them with us and the information about Ai Weiwei! Amazing and inspiring and so tragic indeed that he's being held prisoner! Superb post!
Sylvia
These are incredible sculptures and depictions of the zodiac. So wrong that an outspoken artist such as Ai Weiwei would be imprisoned. It’s a strange evolving world and when we look back on different societies we often see many mistakes were made and the wrong people were punished.
Beautiful photos, great animal heads, I find beautiful works of art. Greetings.
Very interesting sculptures! I love the rooster. So sorry to hear about the Chinese artist. The world can be difficult, unforgiving place...we find beauty where we can.
That is an incredible park. I love the rooster head. They're all great but the rooster is my favorite in this post.
Stunning work! Hopefully the other works will be traced soon.
Hi Snap, I remember in the news about the artist in prison. These are very precious work of art.
I hope it comes in our area.
Wow, that is so cool. I would love to see that in person. So sorry to hear about your back problems. I'll say a prayer and send healing your way.
Karen
I love these sculptures, the rooster is my favorite. Thanks for sharing, have a wonderful day!
Hi, yes, these sculptures are to be considered very great, then even 4 meters high, a huge art that was being created, thanks for showing me the original I see them sometimes never determined ...
These are so very beautiful. The picture of each on is just stunning. It really makes one wish for the other 5 to be found. Beautiful post, Snap. Thanks for sharing this.
Brenda
Thank you for sharing the other half of this exquisite collection. Can only imagine the originals.
I hope you are feeling better. Back pain is one of the worst forms of pain. xo C. (HHL)
· Great pictures to show such an interesting place. I would like to see those heads sprinkling water.
· Saludos
TornCrystal & TheAbsentGaze
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MOst interesting post. Thank you. Hope your back gets better soon.
Thanks for the head tour, these really are amazing. xox Corrine
Those are awesome sculptures, I like your photos a lot.
never seen such a powerful cock before. :)
Splendid pictures - the story behind them is great as well.
Cheers - Stewart M - Australia
Very interesting museum there and your pictures are beautiful.The horse close up is impressive!
Léia
Hi lovely lady.
Beautiful photos, great animal heads, I find beautiful works in his art. Thanks so much for your sweet comments on my new post.
XXOO Diane
Thanks for stopping by my part of the world. Fascinating story of the animal sculptures! Your siamese in your Header looks very much like one of our former cats.
Very cool collection. All of them look great.
ces sculptures de tetes d'animaux sont magnifiques, j'ai eut le plaisir de les decouvrir à New York.
Publicity ;o) Every Friday (and the Weekend), The Challenge "Walk In The Street Photography"
Stunning work!
Thanks for saying how big the heads actually are. Now I can imagine how impressive they must be to see in person.
Thanks for sharing those amazing heads with us. Just almost surreal and such talent to sculpt them.
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