Yin and Yang

At the base of our office tower, just before one crosses the street to the Ferry Building, is a whimsical sculpture entitled “Yin and Yang” by Robert Arneson. This work was part of the aptly named “egghead” series that was originally commissioned by the University of California at Davis, where Arneson taught. The Eggheads are very popular fixtures at UC-Davis, and few can resist sitting on them, or just running their hands over the smooth surfaces.

The San Francisco Airport had ordered the work, but in the aftermath of September 11th, felt that the two bodiless heads represented too violent an image and declined to install the sculpture. As for me, I’m happy that I can look at Yin and Yang every week.

Robert Arneson is best known for the controversy surrounding his sculpture “Portrait of George” that was commissioned to honor the life of assassinated San Francisco mayor George Moscone. Arneson’s bust of Moscone does not have the solemn expression that is typical of a commemorative work of art and might seem vaguely disrespectful although well within acceptable bounds. But it was the pedestal, with its five bloody bullet-holes and scrawling of BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG, that caused a furor. Dianne Feinstein, then Mayor of San Francisco, refused to accept the sculpture when it was completed in 1981, and it now resides with a collector in Arizona. Emotions seemed to have calmed with the passage of time, and now-Senator Feinstein and members of the Moscone family are reconciled with the piece some day returning to San Francisco.