September 5, 2006: 99 wolves crash into glass

[Undertoad]

From the "cool art" dep't:

It's 99 life-sized wolves, made over a period of six months out of sheepskin, straw, and other such materials. They crash into a thick pane of glass and tumble in confusion onto the floor. The lead animals are the ones crashing, but clearly the pack is headed for the smackdown as well.



It's called "Head On", one part of a three-part installation by Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang, made as a commissioned piece for the Deutsche Bank Collection in Berlin.





From the press release:

The title work Head On lends its name to the exhibition and takes over most of the exhibition gallery in its physical volume. The installation consists of a pack of 99 life-sized wolves barreling in a continuous stream towards—and into—a constructed glass wall. Other works in the exhibition include the aforementioned 9 x 4 meter gunpowder drawing showing hundreds of wolves whose bodies form a giant vortex and the two-channel video work Illusion II.

The wolves were produced in Quanzhou, China, from January to June of 2006. The commissioned local workshop in Cai’s hometown specializes in manufacturing remarkable, life-sized replicas of animals. First, small clay models were created as movement studies, out of which Cai subsequently developed Head On’s artist editions of cast resin wolves. However, the realistic and lifelike 99 wolves that grew out of these models and drawings possess no literal remnants of wolves: they are fabricated from painted sheepskins and stuffed with hay and metal wires, with plastic lending contour to their faces and marbles for eyes.

[Ibram]

Only a chinese artist...

Cool idea, though, I guess..

[The 42]

Woah! That's incredibly realistic. Why the hell did they need 99 wolves though... they could have done just as well with thirty or forty.

[Spexxvet]

One for each bottle of beer on the wall.

[The 42]

Oh so do we keep cutting them down and eating them?

[GreenYoda]

"99 life-sized wolves, made over a period of six months out of sheepskin..."

Wolves in sheep's clothing?

[Spexxvet]

Originally Posted by The 42

Oh so do we keep cutting them down and eating them?

One at a time, one at a time...

[The 42]

Wolves in sheep's clothing?

No, it's sheep that got plastic surgery to look like wolves!

[Sundae Girl]

Originally Posted by The 42

Woah! That's incredibly realistic. Why the hell did they need 99 wolves though... they could have done just as well with thirty or forty.

It's so you get "99 Red Balloons" in your head for the rest of the day:

99 life sized wolves
floating in the summer sky
etc

Originally Posted by GreenYoda

Wolves in sheep's clothing?

[glatt]

I like this display a lot. I don't really understnad what it's supposed to mean, but I like it still. I really like it that the wolves are made from sheep. I don't know if the artist meant it to be funny, but it is.

[Spexxvet]

Reminds me of a Cabella's store!

[Griff]

Originally Posted by glatt

I like this display a lot. I don't really understnad what it's supposed to mean, but I like it still. I really like it that the wolves are made from sheep. I don't know if the artist meant it to be funny, but it is.

I hope it doesn't mean anything. Its just cool!

[sproglet]

Very dramatic, lots of movement and energy.

Could it be a metaphor for the anticipated influx of Eastern Europeans into Western Europe with the glass representing the economic divide?

I'm sure the Berlin wall was an influence, what with it's location and all.

[Brianna]

Hate it.

[Griff]

Red headed stranger visiting today?