SHANGHAI — Cai Guo-Qiang doesn’t traffic in delicacy. His works include exploding cars, gunpowder drawings, and flying, crashing wolves made of hay, gauze, resin and sheepskin, sourced from his home town of Quanzhou, Fujian province. From November 23, Cai will exhibit dramatic new works in an exhibition entitled “Falling Back to Earth”at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA). At an event in Shanghai announcing the exhibition, the artist told BLOUIN ARTINFO about his new installations, past failures, and how close he came to dying for his art.
You’re exhibiting works inspired by previous trips to Australia in the Queensland show. What brought you to Australia initially, and what most interested you about the place?
In 1996, I took part in the second Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (APT) organized by the Gallery, and proposed to make an explosion project on Brisbane River titled “Dragon or Rainbow Serpent: A Myth Glorified or Feared — Project for Extraterrestrials No. 26.”
The day before the happening was supposed to take place, as I was inserting a gunpowder fuse into waterproof plastic sleeves with the museum's technical staff at the fireworks company, their storage room behind us caught fire. All of a sudden there were red, blue, and green fireworks exploding all over in broad daylight. It was a beautiful yet terrifying sight.
We started running for our lives, but the heatwave from the explosion propelled us forward. The museum's technical director's blazer even caught on fire and was left with a big hole on the back. Then I realized the gunpowder fuse — a whole kilometer of it — that we had been working on also started burning. Before I could stop it, the fuse completely went to ashes. We then saw workers from the fireworks company escaping from the building that was on fire. They were in tears.
In my broken English, I asked, “Where is gunpowder?” If there was still lots of black powder inside the building, and if it caught on fire, it would be the end for all of us. One of the workers woke up from her state of shock, and pointed me to a silver freight container outside the building that had tons of gunpowder inside. We quickly used a forklift to move the container away from heat to avert a greater disaster. Needless to say, the explosion event was cancelled. The gallery issued a statement immediately to say the accident at the fireworks company was not caused by our work.
I felt deeply indebted to the Queensland Art Gallery, and took part in the third APT in 1999. It would not have been wise to make another explosion event, but I felt the need to conquer Brisbane River. So I proposed Blue Dragon, where 99 small metal boats are linked together and filled with alcohol. The boats would then float along the river, and the alcohol, once ignited, would turn the boats into an elegant ribbon of blue flame.
Prior to the opening, I did tests with 20 or 30 boats, and all seemed well. On the night of the opening, the fire department worked with me and used a pilot boat to gently tug the 99 boats along the river. I told the boat to turn right or turn left, and the 99 boats swayed sinuously like a dragon, just as I intended. I became more and more excited and asked the pilot boat to make bigger turns. But then, the turn was too big, and the first boat flipped and sank slowly, followed by the second, third… until the 99th. The alcohol spilled over the river and it became a sea of blue flame. I was so sad I started crying, and my daughter asked me why. I said I had failed. She replied, “But this looks more beautiful!”
The river authority ordered me to retrieve the sunken boats the next day, otherwise they might have caused other boats to run aground.
Every time I worked there, the project was never fully realized, and this was a problem for me. It left both the Queensland Art Gallery and I more determined to do something together.
Australia doesn’t seem to have any serious problems and that is interesting to me. It is challenging for an artist.
Many of your works, including the wolf work “Head On” and your exploding cars are like cinematic blockbusters — expensive, impactful and dramatic, rather than lyrical or ironic. Is your art primarily about spectacle? Does it need to be to reach a wide audience?
It is a pity you don't see lyricism in my work.
Behind the spectacularity of works such as “Head On,” there is a sense of melancholy in the wolves’ ceaseless collective motion as they crash into an invisible barrier, get up, and repeat the same mistake over and over again. It is a critique of human or a society’s behavior, including that of Chinese people. In that way, the work is somewhat ironic.
I am a product of Chinese culture, which is a spectacular and dramatic culture.
In present day society, there are similar propensities for large-scale things: from urban sprawl, to space exploration, to museum expansions. It is a sign of the times. These tendencies are everywhere. Though I am not saying that this is a good trend, my art is a reaction to our times.
Which of the new works are you most excited to exhibit in Australia?
I am looking forward to realizing the installation “Heritage” [pictured]. As it is a new work, it will be the first time this work in my mind's eye materializes into something my actual eyes can see.
“Eucalyptus” [Cai’s response to the ancient trees at Lamington National Park] is also exciting because the work is only a beginning. I don't know what will be the end result, and it excites me.
“Falling Back to Earth” opens at the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA) on November 23 and continues through 11 May 2014.
