Some cool video of animals images:
20060914 - Misfit & another snake - 106-0674 - snake escaping into water dish's filter motor
Image by Rev. Xanatos Satanicos Bombasticos (ClintJCL)
Misfit drops the snake into the fountain, and it prompty goes into the one hole it can find (evolution at work). Right into the fountain motor.
For video of Misfit playing with the snake: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqwQUGvDiQU
Back-story: We noticed Misfit had something, and it was a snake! He dropped it into his water fountain, and we had to take it apart. We let him play with it for awhile, then put it in a bottle. The bottle drove him crazy -- he attacked the movement within every 5 minutes for days. It was his new favorite toy -- the pet of our pet. So we kept the snake in captivity for a week or so. He was not interested in our house crickets, which we joked that Misfit caught for him. After a week, it not only needed probably needed food, but also stank, so we released it. It did need to be "watered" a few times during the week, too, which no doubt increased the stink-power.
Misfit, snake.
September 14, 2006.
... Read my blog at http://ClintJCL.wordpress.com.
TUNDRA SWANS IN FLIGHT
Image by Fool-On-The-Hill
A pair(mates?) of Tundra Swan near Bear River MBR, Utah. Every year up to 50,000 of these swans stop over on the marshes of the Great Salt Lake on their way to and from their arctic nesting ground. Several thousand usually winter here too. One of their most important staging areas on the continent. I love the quivering, cooing, yelping calls they make(see my swan video at www.flickr.com/photos/bryanto/2423801670 ), and when there is a large flock of them, the noise they make is like a symphony.
Museum Label: Ai WeiWei Chinese Zodiac Heads
Image by Emily Barney
Ai Weiwei Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads
Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads is the first major US public art project by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. The installation comprises a dozen bronze sculptures, each roughly ten feet tall, that represent the signs of the Chinese zodiac: eleven real-world animals (snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog, pig, rat, ox, tiger, and rabbit) and one mythical creature (dragon). The sculptures are re-envisioned and enlarged versions of the original eighteenth-century heads that were designed during the Qing dynasty for the fountain clock of the Yuanming Yuan [Garden of Perfect Brightness], an imperial retreat outside Beijing, which was pillaged in 1860.
The work has toured six cities round the world. In the installation at the Hirshhorn, the heads are placed on a north, south, east, west axis and correspond to the astrological positions of the signs of the Chinese zodiac (an individual's sign is determined by year of birth). While the piece rises questions about repatriation and authenticity, the artist has noted, "To mke Circle of Animals / Zodiac Heads, I had to first put it into categories of my concerns.... Dealing with fake and real, true value, aesthetics -- all those questions concern me. Also, as a contemporary artist, I have the possibility of putting the work in a museum. When that happens, the work itself will carry different meanings, its own experience."
About the artist:
Ai Weiwei is one of China's most prolific and provocative contemporary artists. His work includes sculpture, photography, video, and site-specific architectural installations. he is best know for his collaboration with Herzog & de Meuron on the 2008 Beijing Olympic Stadium as well as his embrace of the internet and social media.
