“A violent clash between nature and man that conjures royal hunts, extinct species, and excessive force.” [8]
Cai Guo-Qiang is a temporary Chinese artist who creates art works that discuss beauty and destruction, and the beauty of destruction [9]. Despite the fact that he was born in southern China, in Quanzhou, he touches on very contemporary American fears and states of mind [6].
He is most famous for his gunpowder pieces, his artworks that actually ignite. These artworks comment directly on destruction. He uses gunpowder as a force, and lets the impact show through in his works (10). Within his gunpowder pieces, one can see the burnt and charred marks on the surface. The act of explosion is one of great force, and most often danger in contemporary America. His works often comment on the force behind the danger, and the human impact on the earth. In this aspect, Cai Guo-Qiang is a global artist who works with the dangers and changes in contemporary culture.
The installation Inopportune consists of two stages, Stage 1, which is the suspended white cars, and Stage 2, which is the tiger part. Nine realistically rendered tigers arc across the gallery, pierced by hundreds of arrows each. The narrative reflects a Chinese story in which a man rescued a village by slaying a man-eating tiger.
In the third space, a projection in which a car filled with fireworks floats through the night in Times Square. These artworks create a visceral experience, which evokes danger terrorism, extinction and destruction [9]. The car in Times Square remarks on terrorism, yet the title is illusion, which brings up the question of, is the fear of terrorism built off of illusion? Terrorism is anything but an illusion, but Cai Guo-Qiang shows that our imagination exceeds reality as it is.
Many of his works are hanging, which Mr. Cai favors because the objects appear to “Defy gravity” and don’t have any heaviness to them. The objects gain a sense of motion and allow your eye to travel throughout the sculpture [4]. The cars and the tigers in this instance are quite similar, and while the tigers are being pierced with arrows, the car seems to be on a path of destruction. Yet, while his pieces are suspended in the air, they become frozen in action, almost expanded across time so we can see the entire act or explosion.
With the tiger piece, Cai Guo-Qiang comments on “technicity” which Martin Heidegger, a German philosopher said to be the “essence of technology.” Cai Guo-Qiang brings to our attention, that technology is beyond our power. In the second stage of Inopportune, the tigers stuck with arrows evoke a sense of slaying and pain in the grotesquely twisted tigers. The tigers are twisted in fear and pain, and go beyond the Chinese myth, which they are based on. They become figures of the natural world affected by an outside force [7]. The force becomes unleashing human power and control, and essentially, terror. It is within these tigers, which we see how the age of technicity affects the animal kingdom as a whole. The realistically rendered tigers are twisted in agony and exaggerated to express the pain and torture they are experiencing. The viewers are forced to feel pain for the tigers, and to empathize with them [7].
Cai Guo-Qiang is very focused on the aesthetics of pain. He evokes a visceral response from his audience with his realistically fabricated objects. He uses the visual impact to transmit ideas, which he uses to gain strong responses [4].
Cai Guo-Qiang compares his theme of the beauty of destruction to a poppy flower, beautiful and romantic, but poisonous at the same time. He proposes situations and dangers in such a way that describes exactly what we are doing as humans, accepting the uncontrollable [4]. Whether we are accepting through action or ignoring the problem, we are faced with a situation and deal with it accordingly. Cai Guo-Qiang brings up the issues in an effort to stop our ignorance and to wake us up.
Cai Guo-Qiang presents such modern ideas and philosophies within his work. He does this to jolt us from our everyday life and to heighten out awareness in a jarring manner (10). Inopportune displays the beauty in destruction and terror, and leaves us stunned. In this case, we are presented with the results of our doing, and Cai Guo-Qiang uses art in a force to wake us up, and that is the kind of art that is needed when concerning issues of this magnitude [9].
Cai Guo-Qiang brings up large issue concerning us as a species. With different animal installations, he embodies the natural world as it is terrorized by human force. His piece, Head On, consists of an arc of wolves running into a glass wall [6]. The wolves become nature as it is running amok or towards an invisible force, such as terrorism or humans [9]. His wolves are suspended in the air as well, and more directly comment on nature hitting an outside force. The wall itself is invisible, which comments on our blindness and ignorance of what we are doing. While the tigers’ faces are twisted in pain, the wolves have less of a direct response to pain or any force. Many of them seem ignorant, even, of what is to come. Mr. Cai evokes a different sense of destruction, one that seems even more grisly, due to the fact that the victims are completely unaware.
Many people consider Cai Guo-Qiang to be a global artist. His art explores contemporary and global issues. Some of his works are more specific in idea than others, but still apply to the global issue. His piece with the tigers becomes part of the larger issue of the battle between nature and man (8). He takes inspiration from his Chinese heritage, and pays close
Cai Guo-Qiang creates a spectacular display of violence, and uses shock to reach his viewers. The piece with the tigers is about a myth glorifying man for defeating a man-eating tiger, yet Cai Guo-Qiang forces the viewer to see the tiger’s perspective. Cai Guo-Qiang paints a blunt picture of human behavior and the violence and pain in our destruction (7).
I look towards Cai Guo-Qiang’s work because he deals directly with the human force against nature. He touches on our power, and the result of our power and inventions. He creates a contrast between man and nature, and appeals directly to our sense of fear and pain to convey these ideas. I agree with his levels of intensity, as I, too, believe that we need to wake up from our ignorant slumber. We might like to remain unaware and uncaring of what we do, but artists such as Cai Guo-Qiang bring our actions into question. He visually displays the contradictory nature of our universe, but specifically humans and the environment [2].
Bibliography
- Anderson-Spivy, Alexandra. “Playing with Fire.” artnet. Artnet Worldwide Corporation, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/reviews/spivy/spivy3-13-08.asp>.
- “Cai Guo-Qiang ‘Inopportune.’” absolutearts. World Wide Arts Resources Corporation, n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.absolutearts.com/artsnews/2004/12/13/32600.html>
- “Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune.” MASS MoCA. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, Oct. 2005. Web. 15 Apr. 2012. <http://www.massmoca.org/event_details.php?id=36>.
- Friis-Hansen, Dana, Octavio Zaya, and Serizawa Takashi. Cai Guo-Qiang. New York, NY: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002. Print.
- Harrison, Robert Pogue. “Of Terror and Tigers: Reflections on Cai Guo-Qiang’s Inopportune.” Cai Guo-Qiang.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.caiguoqiang.com/pdf/essays/inopportune.cat.harrison.pdf>.
- “Power: Cai Guo-Qiang.” art21. PBS. 2005. Television.
- Powhida, William. “Cai Guo-Qiang.” The Brooklyn Rail. N.p., 2005. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://brooklynrail.org/2005/06/artseen/cai-guo-qiang>.
- Smith, Roberta. “Cars and Gunpowder and Plenty of Noise.” The New York Times. N.p., 22 Feb. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/arts/design/22cai.html>.
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