Happy New Year, you dog you! Actually, that is only for people born in the Chinese Calendar Years are Dogs: 1922, 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, and, drum roll, 2018! The Chinese New Year doesn’t begin until Feb. 16, but since today is our New Year’s Eve, we will explore that idea now, with a photo of the “Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads” installation on the Ringling Museum grounds in Sarasota, a creation of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, sculptor, photographer, installation artist, architect and social activist,
Each of the bronze animal heads measures approximately 4 feet high and 3 feet wide, elevated to between 9.8 and 12 feet high on their columns. Each sculpture weighs approximately 800 pounds. This group of works has been exhibited worldwide since the official launch of the Zodiac Heads in 2011, making it one of the most viewed sculpture projects in the history of contemporary art.
The bronze statues are quite textural, and I converted them to gray scale to play up that element for this challenge. If you haven’t seen the Zodiac heads, they are on display through June 1, 2018. And because they are on the grounds and not inside the museum, you can view them for free. Or go to the museum on Mondays when the museum is free, too.
Love the processing!
I haven’t seen this display. Thanks for telling me about it.
I love following the Chinese Zodiac! – wow – I have to go and see this for sure – so glad you used this for your texture post. Splendid!
Interesting processing on this. Love the heads.