THE ART & BEAUTY OF EXPLOSIONS, FROM WHISPERS TO EPIC

CAI GUO-QIANG

Explosives are the mediums of choice for Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang.

From works on canvas, “painted” with explosives,” to his signature explosion events, Cai lights up the world with his vision.

Trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theater Academy, Cai began to experiment with gunpowder, while living in Japan (1986 to 1995), using it as he would paint or ink, laying it down in trails on paper, then igniting it in front of a live audience.

“Objects made of paper are still burned as gifts to the gods, the ghosts and the ancestors who inhabit the world beyond that of the living and the act of burning marks the transition to the nether world,” Cai explains.

“Paper represents a more Chinese spirit… with Chinese symbols of paper, panels, gunpowder, pine trees – you hold these elements in your hand and you ignite these elements.”

Cai’s fascination with explosions began when he was a child. His grandmother rescued him once, when one of his experiments ignited a serious fire. “She just put a rug in the living room over the fire,” Cai tells us. “From a young age, I’ve learned a lot from her.” 

One of Cai’s move beautiful and tender installation of his works on paper is “Unmanned Nature,” a marriage of references: 14th Century Chinese ink and wash paintings + Monet’s multi panel “Water Lilies,” further enhanced by a reflecting pool.

As Cai developed his work, he began to explore Eastern philosophy, Maoist sentiment and contemporary social issues. And he moved on to explosives of a massive scale.

Violence and ethereal landscapes, war and peace, contemporary and traditional Chinese principles convey the dichotomies that inspire Cai’s visions.  

In One Night Stand, a conceptual pyrotechnic “explosion event,” staged in front of the Louvre, in Paris, as part of Nuit Blanche, Cai told a love story, with sweetness and fire, from the first ignition of interest to explosive climax.

The 3-part display, with its elaborate fireworks displays, included a sightseeing boat (bateau-mouche) outfitted with fifty tents and 100 lovers who shared their bliss with spectators by pressing buttons to trigger fireworks spray fired from small satellite boats nearby.

In Inopportune, an installation at Mass MOCA and several other museums around the world,  Cai suspended 9 cars from the ceiling of a 300-ft long gallery, in an explosive arrangement, pulsing with multicolored light. In an adjacent space, a phantom car floated through fireworks.

Cai’s explosive art works, whether transient or permanent, leave a beautiful lasting impression. He’s won many important awards. In 2012, Cai was a Laureate for the prestigious Praemium Imperiale, an award that recognizes lifetime achievement in the arts in categories not covered by the Nobel Prize.  

Cai also served as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

You can see Cai Guo-Qiang works currently on exhibition at the Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo Da Vinci (Milan), MOMA (New York City), and Al Riwaq (Doha).

And check out “Sky Ladder,” an award-winning documentary, by filmmaker Kevin MacDonald, about Cai’s remarkable life and work.

Read more about Beautiful Explosions in How to Capture the Most Beautiful Fireworks Explosions, Beautiful Seed Bomb Explosions Can Help Save Our Planet Now and Secret Life Unfurls In Beautiful Exploding Edibles Now.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Mystery Circle: Explosion event for The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles for Sky Ladder, by Cai Guo-Qiang.
2. Image: by Wen-You Cai. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Ignition of Spring, gunpowder drawing on porcelain, part of installation Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, by Cai Guo-Qiang.
3. Image: by Cai Guo-Qiang. Seasons of Life: Summer.
4. Image: by Cai Guo-Qiang. Penglai / Hōrai. Gunpowder on Japanese Paper.
5. Image: Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Elegy Explosion event for the The Ninth Wave. Shanghai, China.
6. Image: Courtesy of Rachel Marsden Words. Unmanned Nature, by Cai Guo-Qiang at The Whitworth. Manchester, England.
7. Image: Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Elegy Explosion event for the The Ninth Wave. On the Riverfront of the Power Station of Art. Shanghai, China.
8. Image: by Hiro Ihara. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Transient Rainbow.
9. Image: by Thierry Nava. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. One Night Stand. Explosion event for Nuit Blanche, Paris, France.
10. Image: by Thierry Nava. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. A French Love Encounter. One Night Stand. Explosion event for Nuit Blanche, Paris, France.
11. Image: by Kevin Kennefick. Courtesy of Mass MoCA. Inopportune: Stage One, by Cai Guo-Qiang.
12. Image: Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Elegy Explosion event for the The Ninth Wave. Shanghai, China.
13. Image: by Hiro Ihara. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Transient Rainbow.
14. Image: by Lin Yi. Courtesy of Cai Studio. Sky Ladder.
15. Image: by chrisstorb. Fallen Blossoms, by Cai Guo-Qiang.
16. Image: by Wen-You Cai. Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. Bidding Farewell. One Night Stand. Explosion event for Nuit Blanche, Paris, France.
17. Image: by BN App - Download now!
18. Image: Courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang. The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century. Nevada.