The value of art in human life cannot be measured. Through art, people may explore the history of human progress and societal issues and interests. Individuals can evolve spiritually, become more robust, and achieve balance and harmony in their spiritual needs via the practice of art. Art helps express thoughts and emotions that cannot be described in words. Modern-day art is all about understanding reality and current events. For example, Cai Guo-Qiang, a contemporary Chinese artist based in New York, produces art pieces that refer to current global issues. Cai Guo-Qiang’s unique method of using explosives to create artworks helped him earn widespread acclaim. His works carry deep meaning and convey powerful messages to the audience.
Cai Guo-Qiang’s Art: Cai Guo-Qiang’s Interests
Cai Guo-Qiang was born and raised in China in Quanzhou at the dawn of communism. His father owned a bookstore, which he burned down, fearing the threat of bullying during the Cultural Revolution. That was the time when a young Cai learned about politics. The bookstore had a ton of Western literature and rare works that Cai could use. The fact that Cai’s father was a calligrapher was the spark for his artistic development. The result is that Cai assimilated both Eastern philosophy and Western ideals, which is reflected in his works. As a child, Tsai was a skeptic and a nihilist, which is especially noticeable in his way of thinking (Vainker & Elliott, 2020). However, at the moment, the creator believes in some manifestations of mystical events, such as ghosts and UFOs, which does not conflict with his knowledge of physics (Vainker & Elliott, 2020). Although Cai used various techniques in his works, gunpowder helped him become famous. Cai enjoys everything with an explosion, whether it is fireworks or the Big Bang theory. From all the mentioned above, it follows that Cai Guo-Qiang is an individual with many interests: art, politics, Chinese Taoist spirituality, science, and explosions.
The Steps of Creating Artwork
There are a few procedures an artist must do in order to produce an artwork. The artist must first decide what notion or thought they want to express via their work. One of the most sought-after tasks in front of artist is the image of modern problems (Yapp, 2021). Their work will be socially significant and advantageous to the community. Second, after a concept has been decided upon, one must choose how to convey it to the audience. It is essential to consider the materials, forms, figures that will be utilized, texture, silhouette, shadows, and scale while creating an installation or a painting (Art21, 2005). The artist analyzes and experiments with materials to find the most suitable concept. Third, the stage of reconstruction starts once the author has determined how to express their main point.
“Inopportune: Stage One” and “Inopportune: Stage Two”
Cai Guo-Qiang, in turn, is a genius who brings up sensitive topics and masterfully expresses his position and message to the audience. Cai effortlessly integrates the seemingly incongruous in his installations: violence and the beauty, the local and the universal, and cruelty and humanism. In response to the anxiety leading up to the terrorist attacks, Cai created “Inopportune: Stage One” and “Inopportune: Stage Two,” a two-part installation at the Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art, in December 2004 (Spirituality, Chaos, and “Inopportune,” 2011). In these works, he successfully portrays violence and terror as abstract beauty without succumbing to their direct aestheticization.
The visitor undergoes a sort of rite of passage through the installation, which is made up of real objects, like the nine real cars in “stage one,” or literal imitations in “stage two”. Nine real tigers, pierced by the arrows of an invisible archer, are frozen in a paroxysm of pain and trying to make a saving jump (Art21, 2005). Cai dynamically solves the space by spreading the artwork horizontally, like the traditional Chinese scroll (Art21, 2005). The viewer follows the scroll, observing it frame by frame. Everything in this work is carefully selected, including the idea and the materials.
“Sky Ladder”
Another example of Cai’s work is a 500-meter flaming rope ladder that soars into the air on a balloon. The “Sky Ladder” is one of Cai Guo-Qiang’s most remarkable recent achievements. Cai Guo-Qiang came up with the idea of uniting the Earth and the cosmos, which he realized as one of the concepts of his works (Yapp, 2021). The designer wanted to gratify his grandmother, who had just celebrated her 100th birthday a few days before the light display, so they came up with this extraordinary and magnificent explosion.
Unfortunately, the older woman’s health at the time was so poor that she could not see her grandson’s present in person, but she could see it on the screen of her smartphone. Cai Guo-Qiang’s inventions include a collection of complex technological items such as wire ladders or gunpowder.(Vainker & Elliott, 2020). The main reason why Cai uses gunpowder is the unpredictability of the result. In this art form, spontaneity and unpredictability are in priority, as they create the final imprint (Vainker & Elliott, 2020). He is interested in fusing public joy, another key feeling we associate with fireworks, with an aversion to the fire element. Small-scale artificial disasters caused by gunpowder disprove the notion that an explosion always results in destruction. For example, in the Sky Ladder, the effect of a light show is achieved by a line of explosives, sequentially going along a wire structure (Vainker & Elliott, 2020). This project is among Cai’s most fabulous creations because of its simple design and deep meaning.
To conclude, Cai Guo-Qiang creates meaningful art pieces with social significance. He is an artist who has become an icon of Chinese contemporary art in the West. He became famous for his giant gunpowder paintings born at the moment of the explosion, spectacular pyrotechnic shows that can be observed from space, and installations on delicate social topics. “Inopportune: Stage One,” “Inopportune: Stage Two,” and “Sky Ladder” are examples of thoroughly planned and meticulously completed creative projects.
References
Art21. (2005). Art in the twenty-first century. Power [Video]. Art21.
Vainker, S. & Elliott, D. (2020). Cai Guo-Qiang. Materials without borders. Ashmolean Museum.
Spirituality, Chaos, and “Inopportune.”. (2011).
Yapp, H. (2021). Minor China. Method, materialisms, and the aesthetic. Duke University Press.