>> the san francisco arts commission's public arts program

made a big splash in the civic center with the world premiere of three heads, six arms. the artist came from shanghai to help us celebrate the unavailing. we had a chance to speak with him about his work. >> the san francisco arts commission is pleased to be celebrating their relationship between san high and san francisco. the shanghai and san francisco. this is a 30 relationship that stretches back to win dianne feinstein was the mayor of san francisco.

we premiered a new work of art here in san francisco called the three heads, six arms. welcome to san francisco. thank you for bringing your extraordinary sculpture. can you tell me about what inspired you to create this sculpture? >> this started with some trips that i took years ago. i went to to bed and i saw a lot of statues and i started to really feel the spiritual life of people in tibet. it really inspires me and i went back to shanghai and i started the creation of this.

>> we see that one of the heads of the bullet it is your face. can you talk about the significance of that? -- we see that one of the heads of the buddha is your face. >> i started doing public art almost 10 years ago. what i want to express this as an extension of my our practice. this is an accumulation of my own experience as a performance artist. >> we see that the scale is very important. we have seen other works where a limb of this culture is on the floor but everything is very big

and large scale. what are you trying to accomplish with expanding the scale of these images to such a great size. >> i wanted to make large scale art and see how this plays a role in contemporary society. i think that is the mission of contemporary art, to serve as a social critique. >> when the mayor knew some -- when mayor newsom join you in

dedicating this, they wanted to find a work that was big and bold. he was so pleased with your participation that he made you an honoraria citizens of san francisco for the next 18 months. the public reaction has been very positive. what is your reaction of how people receive your sculpture? >> i think that san francisco has a long history. this gigantic sculpture is in front of the civic center. i know that that is not the kind of a go with whole environment. there is an exchange with the

american culture and the asian culture which has created this very strong power. this power was created by east meets west may be is exactly what our mayor or the public wants. they will start to be curious and wonder how this is here and how we look at the asian culture. >> you have lived internationally, you have lived in cities like new york and beijing, now shanghai. you made a very conscious decision to lend this culture to san francisco as opposed to having it premier as an exhibition at another museum. >> i am very satisfied with the turnout and i lived in new york

for 8 years and all of my children were born in new york. i already have the american spirit. i am proud to be here and i really appreciate the spirit of committing to things and being honored and being collaborative. when i flashed back to my career, i think about what an artist can do is a teeny tiny thing. i want to contribute to the hall human society. what art can do is just this tiny bit. >> your invitation has already proven to be a great success and we really look forward to spending time with your sculpture. thank you for being part of "culture wire."

>> thank you for being part of this project. >> thank you for watching. join us for future episodes. you can >> welcome to culturewater. in 2001, the san francisco arts commission and tampa does go public library established an arts master plan for the city soon to be renovated branch library. almost 10 years later, the san francisco arts commission has integrated a collection of vibrant new artworks by bay area artists into five new libraries, and there is more on the way. here is a closer look at some of the projects.

>> the branch library improvement program is a bond funded program undertaken by the san francisco public library to upgrade each of the branch libraries throughout the neighborhoods. one of the great benefits of this opportunity is that each of these branches has a unique artwork that has been created specifically for that branch, based on input from people who live near that branch, in the surrounding neighborhood. >> trur- minded. there was a lot of community support for the project. i try to make it about the true hill and its history. they were something that natives used for making houses.

the construction of the pond is based on abalone house construction. at the bottom of the form, it is woven into a rope which transforms into a manufactured rope. that is a reference to the cordish company, a big industry at the waterfront that went along with the shipbuilding industry. other examples of art work in libraries that you might be interested in seeing it is dana zed's glass shatters in front of a library. there are a wall sculptures in the lobby of the glen park branch library. and then there is an illuminated book on the wall of the mission bay library.

>> "ocean current." we are on ocean avenue, so there is a connection to that. that is what this is about. culmination of all lot of dialogue, processing over a five-year period. that is longer than most art projects take, but i really feel like the product was enriched from that. making the sculpture involves forging and fabricating steel. we used to deal to create this flowing, central sculptor, heating, bending, grinding, painting, bending, and adding a patina to it. layers and layers of craftsmanship that went into this. >> of the artists who participated in this project are

all bay area of projects. they work in a wide variety of media. metal, glass, natural elements, photography, just a range of different approaches and aesthetics. so we have created a nice collection of art work that is reflective of the current date. art scenes. and we invite everyone to participate and to see the unique art works that have been developed. >> to learn more, visit >> welco" today we are visiting southern

exposure in san francisco alison prepares to launch a fantastic new project called beautiful possibilities. we will send them on a two-year adventure crisscrossing the united states to investigate american history and contemporary culture. it is using a traveling road show as inspiration. she will sit down and talk with residents in search of stories and experiences that reveals exactly what makes us americans. >> 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.

>> the san francisco arts commission's public arts program made a big splash in the civic center with the world premiere of three heads, six arms. the artist came from shanghai to help us celebrate the unavailing. we had a chance to speak with him about his work. >> the san francisco arts commission is pleased to be celebrating their relationship between san high and san francisco. the shanghai and san francisco. this is a 30 relationship that

stretches back to win dianne feinstein was the mayor of san francisco. we premiered a new work of art here in san francisco called the three heads, six arms. welcome to san francisco. thank you for bringing your extraordinary sculpture. can you tell me about what inspired you to create this sculpture? >> this started with some trips that i took years ago. i went to to bed and i saw a lot of statues and i started to really feel the spiritual life of people in tibet. it really inspires me and i went back to shanghai and i started the creation of this.

>> we see that one of the heads of the bullet it is your face. can you talk about the significance of that? -- we see that one of the heads of the buddha is your face. >> i started doing public art almost 10 years ago. what i want to express this as an extension of my our practice. this is an accumulation of my own experience as a performance artist. >> we see that the scale is very important.

we have seen other works where a limb of this culture is on the floor but everything is very big and large scale. what are you trying to accomplish with expanding the scale of these images to such a great size. >> i wanted to make large scale art and see how this plays a role in contemporary society. i think that is the mission of contemporary art, to serve as a social critique. >> when the mayor knew some -- when mayor newsom join you in

dedicating this, they wanted to find a work that was big and bold. he was so pleased with your participation that he made you an honoraria citizens of san francisco for the next 18 months. the public reaction has been very positive. what is your reaction of how people receive your sculpture? >> i think that san francisco has a long history. this gigantic sculpture is in front of the civic center. i know that that is not the kind

of a go with whole environment. there is an exchange with the american culture and the asian culture which has created this very strong power. this power was created by east meets west may be is exactly what our mayor or the public wants. they will start to be curious and wonder how this is here and how we look at the asian culture. >> you have lived internationally, you have lived in cities like new york and beijing, now shanghai. you made a very conscious decision to lend this culture to san francisco as opposed to having it premier as an exhibition at another museum.

>> i am very satisfied with the turnout and i lived in new york for 8 years and all of my children were born in new york. i already have the american spirit. i am proud to be here and i really appreciate the spirit of committing to things and being honored and being collaborative. when i flashed back to my career, i think about what an artist can do is a teeny tiny thing. i want to contribute to the hall human society. what art can do is just this tiny bit. >> your invitation has already proven to be a great success and we really look forward to spending time with your

sculpture. thank you for being part of "culture wire." >> thank you for being part of this project. >> thank you for watching. join us for future episodes. join us for future episodes. you can

[music]