>> beautiful possibility is a traveling research project that i will take on a five-month journey across the united states and lower canada. i document this tore on a map that i painted for the project and also from previous projects called the road map to lost america. on the map i have taken all of the contemporary borders off the map and replaced them with native territories, and then overlaid it with contemporary highways. i have scheduled venue stops at different areas along the tour, from california to south dakota, that will serve as headquarters for my local research. when i was researching the traveling medicine show, i came across this. they had put out an elixir, and it referred to the elements that

came out because of the high stress, high-pressure life, mostly because of the industrial revolution. anyway, i was fascinated by the term american-itis, and i thought it did a lot about the stress-related illnesses, and i was impressed that they picked up on that and the 1800's. i did a survey to see if it was irrelevant element today. i have a series of eight painted banners that are retellings of american history. i am particularly interested in transition history between native and european histories and retelling them as if they were a popular myth. there is a mix of eras and characters and times drat these banners. -- and times throughout these banners. i use the olympics and the

melting pot, or things reduced down, and come out of this reduction. and something else transforms out of it. they had this strict code of who we should be as americans, and then i had andrew jackson fanning the flames. this first contact, down to george bush in 2008. all of the characters that appear are real characters that are taken from my research. we are an interesting mix and i want to provoke wonder about who we are. every one of the characters are taken from actual photographs or documents that i found in my research on american history. in a lot of my banners, you conceal -- uc the melting pot, the imagery and myth that we use in our culture. talking about these reductions

of all these different mixes of people, how you distill the experience. that is something i want to think about, collecting the ideas and ingredients, and i wanted to do the san francisco de lexie. -- elixir. we found a spring water underneath a church in cow hollow. we put rosebuds in the water to attract peace, and it made a meade. it was sitting in the gallery. we distill that through local herbs. it was really surprising how delicious it was, because we were mixing a lot of seemingly in congruent ingredients, and it was delicious and different from anything you have ever tasted. i would have been happy if it was medicinal. the idea was more important to me.

but it was very good. it is something i think a lot about, especially transition history, native americans, how they have this combination of dress, from the clothing from trade companies, mixed with traditional dress. i love how reflective it is of who they are, and also the merging history's coming together. what would we look like if we carry our history with us? all of the merging of cultures, reflected in our address? i am thinking of my own history with early europeans coming in and intermixing with native cultures. the one thing i would like people to take away from after seeing my work is a sense of wonder and who we are as americans. that we are really these beautiful mixes of people and we should really be looking backwards at who we are. i think we are all kind of historians in our own life, and there are great presidents behind us -- president behind us

that could give us insight into who we are. >> oliver road trip on her website. check at often. new experiences will be added after every stop. >> welcome to the san francisco civic center. if so the president of the san francisco arts commission. -- i am the president of the sentences " arts commission. we're pleased to present to you today this incredible temporary work of art. three heads, six arms by the

internationally renowned artist. this is conjunction with the 30th anniversary city celebration. you will hear more about that as well. we're pleased to have you here. we're pleased to have the artist join us today along with our various partners in this effort. this piece will be with us for 18 months. everyone will have a chance to see it in various lights and from various angles and be able to enjoy his presence here and san francisco. i cannot imagine a more gorgeous morning to kick this off. thank you for joining us. we have the mayor, who told his staff and the folks at the san francisco arts commission that

he wanted something spectacular to mark the anniversary. you will hear from the people who took that directive and got it done. first and foremost is the executive director of the san francisco arts commission. working with the rest of the staff at the arts commission, the managed to gather the various components and people that needed to help to bring this to fruition and get it done in time for the celebration. without further ado, louis cansel. >> this is a phenomenal turnout. i am very pleased on behalf of the arts commission. i want to thank you for taking the time to join us for this dedication ceremony. the arts commission is especially grateful that mayor newsom, and others, and

especially the creator of this magnificent sculpture could all be here today to celebrate the dedication of this work in the heart of our city. mayor newsom, the staff, the commissioners, and i are especially proud to work for a mayor who normally supports the arts, the challenges us to do more, to be older -- bolder. i distinctly recall that about eight months ago, he said that he wanted something big. he said he wanted something impactful and controversy of that push the envelope. mr. mayor, i hope this is big enough for you. the arts commission celebrated its 40th anniversary and made

history with the debut of the glass memorial. what is missing is at the academy of silecience. we may to history again with the world premiere of the new sculpture by this artist. i think that is worth around applause. [applause] -- today, we make history again with the world premiere of the new sculpture by this artist. he gained international notoriety for his early performance art captured anin photographs that now grace the walls of some of the most significant museums, including the san francisco museum of art. after he moved to san francisco in 2005, he started a new chapter in his artistic career by embracing a more traditional

mode of painting, drawing, and sculptures. tools work -- his work now exemplifies a more traditional link with his culture. he continues to use the body is the primary vehicle for exploring questions related to tradition, history, and personal experience. this work is part of an important series of monumental works depicting be fragmented extremities of buddhist sculptures that inspired his discovery of religious sculptures that did been destroyed during the cultural revolution and were for sale in a tibetan market. mr. hcange was deeply -- he was deeply moved by the damaged

sculptures. with this work, he believes he is able to alleviate the pain caused by their destruction. it is a commentary on the changing reality the chinese people who are being forced to reconcile their deep-seated traditions in the face of the country's successful and rapid modernization. with this sculpture, mr. change presents us with a vision of hope that these two seemingly opposing forces can coexist with equal value. thanks to the gallery and the generosity of our many sponsors that our next speaker will address. i am happy to announce that the sculpture will be here through the end of 2011. i am also proud to announce the the national endowment for the arts award the arts commission is $70,000 grant, the second-

highest this year, to support the bringing of this sculpture to san francisco. we're grateful to the chairman for that support. i want to take a moment to introduce the person, part of the team here at the san francisco arts commission, but really the person who spent many sleepless nights trying to overcome the various obstacles associated with the transport and bringing this fabulous sculpture here to san francisco. please join me in welcoming and banking -- thanking jill for her great work on behalf of the city of san francisco. [applause] >> thank you. that was wonderful. welcome to everyone. can you hear me? i know that i have a soft voice.

this is a glorious event. i am so happy that you are here to join us. i am amazed at how art to galvanize an entire city. literally overnight, a think the buddha has become the talk of the town. my main purpose is to identify and thank the many people involved on both sides of the pacific ocean. without their help, this project could not been realized. to " the former first lady, hillary clinton, "it takes a village." with this project, that phrase could not be more true. as the project manager, i am the common thread connecting the many visible and invisible contributors to the project. i know that thank you's can be the most boring part of the ceremony and people generally to and out. please listen because my list

will help you to learn the complex and dramatic sage of its dramatic journey from shanghai to san francisco. it is very complex to bring a project of this sale to for -- of this scale to fruition at the top of my list, and must think the artist. [applause] he has given us the true honor and privilege of displaying his wonderful sculpture and our most public places. i also want to thank mayor newsom for giving me arts commission and the mandate to do something big and spectacular for the city. that is all i needed to hear to get something -- to get me going. i hope we have achieved what you desire. i am glad we pleased the mayor.

we always want to do that. with the approval of my boss and the arts commission -- without their approval, this would have been dead in the water. thank you to all of them for supporting this idea. with their usual enthusiasm for placing art, i p want i phiwantk the department of support of the sculpture. it was after was able to verify that the 30,000 pound weight would not crashed into the parking garage. engineering also contributed to this project. so many people gave and gave. this is somewhat chronological. there are still some big names to mention here. they provided the structural

engineering calculations at no cost to the city. i was able to convince rec and pa the wickedrk -- i was able to convince rec and park that we could install this without doing damage to the city property. the engineer told us it had to be within 12 inches of the center line of the plaza. it disturbs my sense of symmetry. i kept trying to move my head. we had to listen to the engineers. there was very little latitude for artistic intervention. now that i have the city approvals lined up for the most part, i asked the gallery in new york if they would consider my proposal. joe baptista from the gallery

supported the idea and obtained approval from the artist. this was the make or break moment in the project's history. thank you, pace gallery, joe, and zhang huan for loading us this wonderful piece of art. mr. howard adnd teresa hu met me for a drink. they asked what they could do. when i explained that i hoped it would help me to ship it from shanghai to san francisco at no cost to the city, that was my idea wish. my less than ideal wish was that they would do it and a great

discounts. i caught them exchanging glances. howari caught them exchanging glances. howard said it would take care of it. this is a great moment. [applause] please stand up so that we can recognize you. this is a san francisco-based company with offices anin shanghai and around the world. this project and the impact on the city appealed to them. thank you for your great gift. they went to work and quickly brought in victor. victor flew in from hawaii. provided the shipping free from shanghai along with a lot of the management and paperwork. stand up, victor.

they did an excellent job. [sirens] the torso was too big to fit in the container. they put it at the top of the ship. it was wrapped in red. i like to think of the buddha guarding the journey of this ship across the pacific. thank you so much, victor. [applause] i also want to thank the hus for giving us the expertise of their staff. scott. they didn't say ok, we will do this for you for free, but they actually had their staff work with us on a daly basis and help us really project manage the details and logistics and the complications of exporting a work of this scale and

complexity. would you please stand as well diana, leslie and scott? i couldn't have done it without your expertise and guidance. we are total novices at bringing 30,000 pounds of a copper and bronze sculpture from shanghai. thank you so much. [applause] now that we had the shipping and the export taken care of, the project really gained tracks, and with that, our development director was able to add that information to our pending grant with the national endowment for the arts that was mentioned, and we procured that $70,000, one of the highest awards given. everything builds up, and again, it takes a village. every day somebody else participated and added more. scott, the president of fine arts handling, puts his heart

and soul into everything he does. he was so taken by the spirit of this project, that his company also waived their administrative fees. everyone wanted to do it at virtually no cost to the city. that was amazing to me. city departments don't work that way. they say send the money over, and then i will do the work. i want to thank brian, the head of the crew who flawlessly with a crew of eight or 10 people the installation. they finished ahead of time. it involved them crawling inside the buddha to aattach and bolt it together. you did a flawless job, and i know the artist is happy. thank you. [applause] >> you are polite for clapping

and applauding. i hope i am not boring you. everything we want well until we hit a cultural road block, for the vessel departure. at this point we reached out and called upon the gracious and well-kembinged former arts president, rosslyn swigg, who is not with us. she wrote and e-mail to senator diane feinstein, and before i knew it, the offices of senator feinstein were working on this. i know we have a representative from diane feinstein's office. could you raise your hand? where are you? [applause] thank you so much. within two days we had a letter from senator feinstein that was

sent to the shanghai office of foreign owe fares urging their support and expediting the paperwork. now with this very official letter, we worked with the vice counsel of the chinese consulate and of the shrank high -- shanghai office of foreign affairs, and the director of the asian arts music and his director. we refer to mrs. yang of the shanghai cultural association. i want to say that the shanghai team and others finalized the paperwork, obtained the customs cleernls, not with a moment to spare. we had already missed two boats. this was the last boat in order for us to make this dedication. with that, with the mayor's

future and schedule, who knew if we would ever get this gathering together. we are really pleased that it all worked out. i had a terrific professional team of staff at the arts commission. smart problem solvers with a good sense of humor. i would like to single out alison cummings, wherever you are. [applause] >> alison, our senior registrar for our outstanding work in helping coordinate this project and her ability to stay cool and calm all of the time, as well as kate patterson, our communication expert extraordinarya. >> and gene -- jean, who took care of several things. and last, but not least, our

city attorneys, who worked on the details of the loan agreement and procurement to make sure all sides were protected, and that is what we want. head another contributor. the huntington hotel graciously agreed to not charge for the artist's stay. with so many partners, i have to say this is truly an exemplary public-private partnership. most of the cost of the project has been private contributions. i would like to ask you one last time to applaud this small village of individuals on both sides of the pacific who made this dream a reality. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. so clearly, it takes a lot of work and a lot of people to

bring a 10-ton sculpture across the pacific ocean, and bring it to the san francisco civic center. i know everyone wants to get to the mayor and hear from the artist. i want to quickly bring to the microphone, the consul general from the chinese consulate to say a few words, because we couldn't have done this without the partnership of the chinese government as well. >> honor mayor newscom, president of the commission, ladies and gentlemen, and of course honorable mr. juan, whan. it is my good pleasure to join us in the dedication ceremony of the three hands-six arms. on this occasion i would like to thank the mayor and his colleagues for the great efforts to promote the chinese culture, and thanks to the san

francisco arts commission for providing us with this opportunity to enjoy this buhl art work and to celebrate the sister city relationship between shanghai and san francisco. san francisco is well-known for it's cultural diversity, and it has always a long-standing and profound friendship with the chinese people. the former mayor, diane feinstein proclaimed the inception of the sister-city relationship between the two cities. and thanks to the concerted efforts after these 30 years. this relationship has achieved remarkable and substantial

rulls. there have been 225 projects of cooperation between the two cities. many chinese companies have found a home here. i think what is more significant is that this city is going to stage a san francisco place at the world expo in shanghai. that is an expression of profound friendship and strong special bonds between our two cities, and it will surely give new impetus to the friendship and cooperation between our two cities. this sculpture will stay here for a period of time. i think it will help local people to understand china, understand chinese history, chinese culture and the chinese

philosophy of harmony. it will remind us to work hard to promote our mutual understanding and caption. i am confident with our joint efforts, we will surely make the san francisco exhibit a highlight at the world expo in shanghai, but also we will make san francisco the best gateway to china, a pioneer in the development of u.s.-china relations. shrank thank -- thank you. >> he spoke to the context of what we are here, also putting that in context is the head of the sister city committee as well as your bart board member, james. >> thank you, b.j. we are very delighted to be part of this fantastic physical monument to the