Zodiac Heads by Ai Weiwei

Work crews are busy placing the Circle of Heads / Zodiac Heads in the reflective pool at #Toronto Nathan Phillips Square. The dozen different animal heads in bronze sculpture are by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and will remain in the pool until late October 2013 and the installation is being financed by the Art Gallery of Ontario. The sculptures have also been to New York and London.

From the AGO website. "Ai Weiwei has reinterpreted the 12 bronze animal heads representing the Chinese zodiac that once stood in the gardens of the Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness, Old Summer Palace), an imperial retreat in Beijing. In accordance with the conventions of the traditional Chinese zodiac, the works are installed in an oval in the following order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. Each of the works is one solid piece of bronze and stands roughly 10 feet high on a marble base. Their weight ranges from 1,500 to 2,100 pounds."

More of the artists work will come to City Hall when "Forever Bicycles" sculpture featuring more than 1,000 bicycles will be included in the 2013 Scotiabank Nuit Blanche all night art event on Saturday, October 5, 2013.

The official unveiling of Zodiac Heads is Tuesday, June 18 at 1pm

 UPDATE:

Mayor Rob Ford, Councilors and the AGO unveil the installation. See more photos of the June 18 event on my post here. Here is the Mayor's speech.....

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