Ai weiwei zodiac heads: 60 Photos
Ai WeiWei zodiac heads exhibition at Phoenix Art
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Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads pays homage to China's history while speaking to contemporary concerns. “It's about the future and the past, and how China is looked at today and how it looks at itself,” explains the artist.
They are sculptures that challenge the viewer to move past the gilt surface and excavate through layers of cultural history. The form of the animal heads is taken from a complex fountain-clock designed for Yuanming Yuan, a Qing dynasty imperial retreat outside Beijing, now known as the Old Summer Palace.
Ai Weiwei's bronze 'Zodiac Heads' are the artist's personal interpretation of the 12 Chinese animal heads that represent the signs of the zodiac, which once decorated the Yuanming Yang imperial retreat in Beijing.
Designed by Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione in the mid 18th century, the original works were looted in 1860 when France and Britain invaded China. Of the 12 figures, only seven are known to have survived. Five have been repatriated to China, but ownership of the remaining two is contested.
Ai uses art as a means of confronting the sociopolitical system in China. His recurrent manipulations of Chinese cultural artifacts juxtapose the materiality and tradition of the country's imperial history with symbols of the current phase of its modernization.