David Černý, 1967 | Metalmorphosis | Giant Rotating Heads

Metalmorphosis is a 14-ton water fountain that's shaped like a human head. On top of that, the sculpture is made with over 35 steel layers that can independently rotate 360 degrees to re-arrange its face and trip your brains out.

The mirrored water fountain is made by Czech sculptor David Černý and is located in Whitehall Technology Park in Charlotte, North Carolina.

David Černý is a Czech sculptor. His works can be mainly seen in many locations in Prague.

He gained notoriety in 1991 by painting a Soviet tank pink, to serve as a war memorial in central Prague.

As the Monument to Soviet Tank Crews was a national cultural monument at that time, his act of civil disobedience was considered vandalism and he was briefly arrested.

Another of Černý's conspicuous contributions to Prague is "Tower Babies" (2000), a series of cast figures of crawling infants attached to Žižkov Television Tower.

In 2005, Černý created Shark, an image of Saddam Hussein in a tank of formaldehyde. The work was presented at the second Prague Biennale that same year.

The work is a direct parody of a 1991 work by Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living.

In 2006, the work was banned in Middelkerke, Belgium, in Bielsko-Biała, Poland, and also in the German town of Büdelsdorf.

With respect to the Belgian situation, the mayor of that town, Michel Landuyt, admitted that he was worried that the exhibit could "shock people, including Muslims" in a year already marred by tensions associated with Danish cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.

The Deputy Mayor of Bielsko-Biała, Zbigniew Michniowski, contacted the city-funded gallery, galeria BWA on 9 September 2006 and threatened dire consequences if the artwork were not removed promptly.

In response, Shark was transported to the Szara gallery, in the nearby town of Cieszyn. The mayor of Cieszyn, Bogdan Ficek, distanced himself from Bielsko-Biała City Hall's values.

"I can not see any reason a politician should censor art", Ficek said.

His statue METALmorphosis is on display in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Černý created a similar outdoor sculpture in 2014 in Prague, called "Head of Franz Kafka".

His "Entropa", created to mark the Czech presidency of the European Union Council during the first half of 2009, attracted controversy both for its stereotyped depictions of the various EU member states, and because it turned out to have been created by Černý and two friends rather than, as promised, being a collaboration between artists from each of the member states.

"Entropa" is an ironic jab at the issue of European integration and the stereotypes associated with each country within the European Union.

It is subtitled '"Stereotypes are barriers to be demolished", along with the Czech European Union Presidency's motto of "Europe without barriers".

According to David Černý, the sculpture's primary artist, Entropa "lampoons the socially activist art that balances on the verge between would-be controversial attacks on national character and undisturbing decoration of an official space".

Entropa | Sculpture by Czech artist David Cerny

In an interview with The Times, Černý stated that the sculpture was influenced by the Monty Python brand of humour.

At the launch ceremony, he added Sacha Baron Cohen and Les Guignols de l'info's portrayal of Nicolas Sarkozy as other influences.

The work is made of glass-reinforced plastic and the joints of steel. It covers approximately 256 square metres (2,760 sq ft), measuring 16.4 metres (54 ft) high and 16.5 metres (54 ft) wide. Three-quarters of the weight comes from the frame, making up a combined total of 8 tonnes.

It resembles the parts of a model kit, containing pieces in the shapes of the 27 member states of the EU. Each piece has a distinctive theme that portrays stereotypes about the country, some of which are portrayed in a particularly provocative manner. Among the pieces which have attracted the most attention are those of Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Poland and Slovakia.

The sculpture was installed between 5 and 11 January 2009 in the presence of David Černý, three assistants, four climbers, two technicians, two cameramen and a representative of the Czech Permanent Representation to the EU.

Some EU member states reacted negatively to the depiction of their country.

For instance, Bulgaria decided to summon the Czech Ambassador to Sofia in order to discuss the illustration of the Balkan country as a collection of squat toilets.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian permanent representative to the EU allegedly said "It is a humiliation for the Bulgarian nation and an offense to our national dignity".

For 2012 Summer Olympics Černý created "London Booster" - a double decker bus with mechanical arms for doing push-ups.

David Černý (Praga, 15 dicembre 1967) è uno scultore Ceco.

Le sue controverse sculture possono essere ammirate in diversi punti di Praga, e non solamente.

Piuttosto che artista, David Černý preferisce essere definito un semplice scultore, il cui obiettivo principale è quello di stupire e turbare il pubblico.

Le sue opere si pongono spesso in posizione apertamente polemica nei confronti del panorama politico della Repubblica Ceca, cosa che gli ha procurato non pochi nemici.

Černý ha raggiunto la notorietà nel 1991 dipingendo di rosa un carro armato sovietico, a memoria del secondo conflitto mondiale. La sua provocazione venne reputata intollerabile e l'artista venne arrestato, per poi però venire rilasciato dopo che 12 membri del Parlamento ceco dipinsero a loro volta il carro armato di rosa per dimostrare la propria solidarietà con l'artista.

Un'altra traccia rilevante del lavoro di David Černý a Praga è la serie di sculture Tower Babies, la quale raffigura un gruppo di figure infantili che si arrampicano sulla Žižkov Television Tower.

Nel 2005 Černý ha creato Shark, un'opera presentata alla Biennale di Praga e costituita dal corpo di Saddam Hussein immerso in una vasca di liquido, che fa il verso alla celeberrima The Impossibility of death in the mind of Someone Living (1991) del Brit Artist Damien Hirst.

Nel 2006 Shark è stata rifiutata per ben due volte, prima in Belgio, poi in Polonia, dove si è temuto che l'opera potesse turbare eccessivamente il pubblico, soprattutto quello Musulmano.

Altra opera che ha suscitato innumerevoli discussioni è "Entropa", creata in occasione della presidenza Ceca al Consiglio dell'Unione Europea nel primo semestre del 2009.

Entropa | Sculpture by Czech artist David Cerny

Si tratta di una scultura che presenta immagini ironicamente stereotipizzate di ciascun paese dell'Unione europea, e che è stata oggetto di polemiche per il suo tono fortemente dissacrante e per il grosso "bluff" inscenato dallo stesso Cerny, il quale, contrariamente a quanto annunciato alla stampa ed alle istituzioni in precedenza, ha realizzato l'opera interamente da solo invece che con un team di artisti europei.

La prima mostra personale di David Černý in Italia è stata The Solo Show, tenutasi dal 21 novembre 2009 al 27 febbraio 2010 presso la galleria di arte contemporanea di Roma.

Metalmorphosis, la scultura fontana alta circa 7,6 m, é stata progettata nel 2007 dallo scultore Ceco David Černý e si trova di fronte al Whitehall Technology Park a Charlotte nella Carolina del Nord, diventando una installazione permanente pubblica negli Stati Uniti.

La gigantesca testa rotante è costituita da piastre multiple che ruotano in modo intermittente per creare una testa-fontana tridimensionale che eroga acqua dalla bocca in una grande base fontana ogni volta quando gli strati coincidono perfettamente dopo la roteazione a 360°.

La costruzione della scultura che ha utilizzato circa 14 tonnellate di acciaio inossidabile, incorpora l'ingegneria meccanica ed il computer, essendo dotato di un programma appositamente scritto che controlla via internet i motori incorporati all'interno della struttura.