Ai Weiwei: Circle of Animals/Zodiac Heads August 2, 2012

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's monumental outdoor installation showcases twelve 10-foot-tall bronze animal heads representing the signs of the Chinese zodiac. Placed around the perimeter of the fountain in the museum's central plaza, these sculptures are re-envisioned and enlarged versions of the original 18th-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 were pillaged in 1860 by invading Europeans.