In his often large-scale creations, Cai traces histories of human violence while investigating the potential of healing by explosion.
Read MoreCai first began to work with gunpowder in 1984, while he was a student at the Shanghai Drama Institute. In his 2014 conversation with Ocula Magazine, the artist recalled that his experiments began as a desire to be 'more open and bold' as an artist. Moving from painting with brushes to burning canvases and throwing mini rockets at them, Cai finally settled on using gunpowder as a medium.
The year after he graduated in 1985, Cai moved to Japan with hopes for greater artistic freedom. Although Japan certainly had greater freedoms, he discovered that gunpowder was more difficult to buy, whereas it had been easier to access in China. Cai nevertheless lived in Japan for nine years, holding his first solo exhibition in Tokyo in 1987.
Human Abode, Project for Extraterrestrials No.1, Cai's first explosive work, took place at the Tama River Fussa Outdoor Art Exhibition in 1989. Using twigs and fabric, the artist devised a simple yurt that he then detonated with gunpowder.
With his gunpowder works also came gunpowder drawings, for which Cai carried out controlled explosions on paper. They often reference traditional Chinese imagery and calligraphy, such as the vast expanses of landscape in the 42-panel Odyssey (2010).
In Japan, Cai also became interested in the lasting effects of atomic bombings on both nature and human life. The Earth Has Its Black Hole Too (1994) saw the artist dig into the ground at the centre of Hiroshima Park, and arrange 114 helium balloons, 2,000 metres of fuse, and three kilograms of gunpowder in an ascending spiral. Once lit, the ignition moved down towards the deep, 'black hole' at the centre of the park, an ominous warning that equates nuclear power with a black hole. In 2007, the work was awarded the 7th Hiroshima Art Prize.
Cai moved to New York in 1995, where he has since lived and worked. He continued to explore the resounding implications of nuclear energy, setting off explosions in nuclear test sites and Land Art locations across the United States in 'The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Projects for the 20th Century' series (1996). The mushroom clouds Cai created—captured in photographs and short videos—were non-radioactive, reflecting his beliefs that they may serve to purify what has already been and what may come.
Cai has long been fascinated by the universe and extraterrestrial life. In his 1993 Project to Extend the Great Wall of China by 10,000 Meters, the artist blew up 10 kilometres of explosives near the Great Wall as a signal to outer space.
Another of Cai's ambitious projects had been to send a ladder of light into the sky. After three failed attempts in Bath, England (1994), Shanghai (2001), and Los Angeles (2012), he finally succeeded in launching Sky Ladder over the Huiyu Island Harbour in 2015. A huge white balloon, carrying a 500-metre ladder covered in fuses and gold fireworks, was released into the sky against the morning sun as a gesture of hope and a gift to the artist's 100-year-old grandmother.
Sky Ladder is also the title of Cai's biographical documentary, directed by Kevin Macdonald, that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016.
Animals in Cai Guo-Qiang's sculptural installations are typically an allegory of humanity. Participating in the inaugural Hugo Boss Prize exhibition in 1996, Cai presented Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf: The Ark of Genghis Khan, a massive dragon constructed from sheepskins and Toyota car engines that references the emergence of Asia as a major player in international politics and the global economy.
Reflection (2004) similarly revolves around waves of change. Consisting of an excavated boat from Iwaki, Japan and porcelain Kuan Yin figures, the installation alludes to the rapid transformation of Japan from its traditional past to the 'modern' present. During this globalisation process, wooden boats were quickly replaced by their resin counterparts.
Cai Guo-Qiang ventured into VR with Sleepwalking in the Forbidden City (2020), made in collaboration with HTC VIVE Arts, in which fireworks explode over a model of the majestic palace complex. The artist filmed parts of the fireworks scene in real life, closely replicating the physical sensation of experiencing fireworks.
