Sculpture, Then and Now

Sculpture Then: the Terra Cota soldiers in Emperor's Tomb in China from 3rd century BC has great scale and scope. I have always assumed the soldiers were for the protection of the Emperor in after life. But the tombs reveal more of course: eg., the organization structure of their society (as discussed here). But I loved the recent take by NY Times that he needed the army for this ultimate ambition of (having conquered China and History) conquering the heavens. Now the whole tomb makes sense!

Sculpure Now: Anish Kapoor is the 21st Century maestro. I managed to see his two exhibits at Chelsea Galleries recently: saw his concrete pourings for the first time and was awed. I was also with a friend in kurta with long hair, and the audience walked around us peering curiously at him, mentally calling him Anish. Salman Rushdie was in the audience too, undisturbed in NY audience. ps: Sneaked into Kitano Jazz and heard Toshiko Akiyoshi.