Head On 2006

May Challenge by AnnieMay and MollyMay - Maya (illusion)

I spent Monday May 5 in Brisbane with two friends from my high school days.....a bit scary but it has been something like 50 years since the three of us have been together. One of the things we did was visit a slightly creepy but very thought provoking exhibition by Cai Guo-Qiang at the Gallery of Modern Art......

"Head On is made up of 99 replica animals - a graceful vertical loop of wolves hurling themselves into the air, only to hit a glass wall before returning to the beginning. The work was originally created for an exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim in 2006 and was inspired by Berlin's turbulent history. The Berlin Wall, which divided the city during the Cold War era, is referenced in the scale of the glass panel.

Head On also makes broader statements about human nature. Gaining power and momentum through unity, the wolves appear heroic as they leap towards the unknown. There is the implication that if we blindly follow ideology, or misdirect our strength toward a collective goal, there can be damaging consequences. The resilience of the wolves hints at our difficulty in learning from our mistakes. The transparent glass wall suggests that we may not even be aware that an obstacle is there, or know who put it in place, yet it remains impenetrable - invisible barriers can be, the artist says, 'the hardest walls to destroy'."............quote from the exhibition catalogue