12 Signs

A rainy morning found me quite willingly at the unveiling of the public art exhibit of Ai Weiwei's Zodiac Heads, which is featured prominently at the Pulitzer Fountain in front of the Plaza Hotel.  Because of the nature of the opening (not so much political as logistical), which featured the appearance of the Mayor (this being public art), many were cordoned off at the gates.  As might be expected, we were front and center, or at least I was (standing next to two fellows whose large umbrellas covered me quite nicely, thank you).

Well, I won't say much about the exhibit except that it is a work which I find to be not to my aesthetic "taste." but that is not matter, as the whole nature of its conception and the history behind it is incredibly fascinating- based on a series of similar zodiac heads that were created by foreigners to be placed in the Chinese summer palace and then looted, only to have some resurface years later (including at the much maligned auction at Christie's, and then reconfigured and recreated in a new form by Ai Weiwei and now presented for the city of New York temporarily.  To add a bittersweet level of the political to this, the artist Mr. Ai has now been detained by the Chinese government for 31 days now- and no word seems forthcoming.

The unveiling ceremony with the Mayor and the sponsor next to him.

Zodiac Heads lined up around the fountain.

 And the rain continues beating on.

One side note is that there is a concurrent exhibition running at the Arsenal Gallery on 64th Street and 5th Avenue, which shows some photographs of the creation of the work and some of the previously mentioned background history of the original inspiration.   There is also a short video by Alison Klayman (she who is making a documentary on Ai Weiwei entitled "Never Sorry") created for the project.  It is worth a look see, and it is especially fun for those who have never been inside the curious Arsenal Building, which had its history as "the first home of the Museum of Natural History from 1869 to 1877," and is a mysterious blend of the old and the new.

A photo of Mr. Ai in the show and a plaque of the Arsenal

The Arsenal