Photo by Scott Matthews.
A Chinese artist scoured construction sites in Beijing to put together two massive birds that are now hanging in the nave of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The two birds will be in the cathedral’s nave for a year; the exhibit officially opens on March 1. It was previously shown at MassMoCA.
“Over the course of two years, pioneering Chinese contemporary artist Xu Bing culled detritus from construction sites across the rapidly changing urban landscape of Beijing, and transformed it into his most monumental project to date: Phoenix (2008-10). A feat of engineering and ingenuity, Phoenix is composed of two birds, a male called Feng and a female called Huang. Feng and Huang—each weighing 12 tons and measuring 90 and 100 feet long, respectively—are now coming to the Cathedral. They will hang suspended in the Nave, two majestic birds in perpetual flight beneath its celestial ceiling.”
In short, these beasts appear to be really really cool, and they have lights which will make them even cooler. By the way, is there any other church in the known universe that would host this exhibition?
This is the equivalent of Shakespeare played on an important stage, by dogs. So Steampunk is kewl now? I see.
WONDERFUL!