Cai Guo-Qiang (surname pronounced tsai,given name pronounced gwo chang) wasborn in 1957 in Quanzhou, Fujian Province,China. Even as a child he was interested inart and would sketch landscapes around hishouse in watercolors, and later in oil paint.Cai was part of a theater troupe as ateenager and also appeared in two martial-arts films. At the age of 24 he entered theShanghai Drama Institute to formally studystage design and related disciplinesincluding architectural drawing, lighting andcostume design. During the summers heand his future wife Hong Hong Wu wouldtravel to the far corners of China toexperience nature and primal memories ofthe land. His experiences were reflected inworks that incorporated rubbings of naturalobjects such as rocks and tree roots.

From early on his work has combined bothscholarly and politically charged aspects.Proficient in a variety of mediums, Caibegan using gunpowder in his work tofoster spontaneity and confront thesuppression that he felt from the controlled

artistic tradition and social climate in Chinaat the time. While living in Japan from 1986to 1995 Cai explored the properties ofgunpowder in his drawings, an explorationthat eventually led to his experimentationwith explosives on a massive scale and thedevelopment of his signature explosionevents. These explosion projects, bothpoetic and ambitious, aim to establish anexchange between viewers and the largeruniverse around them.

Cai achieved international prominenceduring his time in Japan and his workbegan to be shown around the world. In1995 he moved to New York, where hecurrently resides. His work reflects hiscultural history and draws on a wide varietyof sources including feng shui, Chinesemedicine, dragons, roller coasters,computers, vending machines, andgunpowder. Since 9/11 he has reflectedupon his use of explosives both asmetaphor and material. “Why is itimportant,” he asks, “to make these violentexplosions beautiful? Because the artist,

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“My father is a calligrapher; he makes traditional paintings, and he also studiesChinese history. My home was always full of traditional artists and a love fortraditional Chinese art. . . . I wanted to follow the Western tradition of oilpainting and sculpture and be influenced by Western thought. Now, lookingback, I see I’ve inherited some of my father’s scholarly thinking; Chinesecultural tradition is part of me.”

like an alchemist, has the ability totransform certain energies, using poisonagainst poison, using dirt and getting gold.”

The Guggenheim has a special history withCai. In 1996 he was selected as a finalist forthe inaugural Hugo Boss Prize, which isadministered by the Solomon R.Guggenheim Foundation and awardedto extraordinary creative figures incontemporary international art. Hisparticipation in the Guggenheim’saccompanying exhibition was a catalyst forCai’s international recognition, and thework he presented, Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf:The Ark of Genghis Khan (1996), is amongthe highlights of the GuggenheimMuseum’s contemporary art collection.

Through years of artistic practice, Cai hasformulated collaborative relationships withspecialists and experts from variousdisciplines, including scientists, doctors,feng shui masters, designers, architects,choreographers, filmmakers and composers.Many who have worked with him onprojects have reflected upon howprofoundly meaningful the experience hasbeen to them. Cai is once again workingon a large collaborative project as a coremember of the creative team that isplanning the opening and closingceremonies of the Beijing 2008 OlympicGames.

“What influenced me most when we began to learn aboutWestern contemporary art in the 1980s was not a particularwork, tendency, or idea but rather the huge amount ofinformation suddenly made available: this vast, hundred-year span of modern and contemporary Western art. Themain impression it left me with was: ‘Damn, you can doanything you want!’”

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As Cai approached his late twenties, he beganexperimenting with art-making techniques thatdirectly harnessed the spontaneity of natural forces.Initially he experimented with laying oil paint oncanvas and blasting it with air blown from an electricfan that he held over the surface of the canvas,shaping the movement of paint with the force ofwind. He titled each of the two works he created inthis way Typhoon (1985). Their swirling imagery andthe process of creation represent Cai’s yearning tocreate art that does not just depict a naturalphenomenon but is itself the direct manifestationof that phenomenon—in this case, a windstorm.

In 1984 Cai introduced gunpowder ignited directlyon his oil canvases, which he positioned horizontallyon the floor. He lit fuses igniting the gunpowderand creating loud bangs and flashes of fire, whichthen vanished in clouds of smoke. The result wasa textured surface that looked and felt like anexplosion, blackened and charred. Cai wouldcontinue to develop a process where these naturalforces allowed him to relinquish control, resulting incompositions formed by the random marks of sparksand smoke.

Soon after his move to Japan in 1986, Cai switchedfrom igniting gunpowder on painted canvases toigniting it directly on sheets of Japanese-madepaper. By the end of this period of experimentationCai had established a distinctive visual language

incorporating the direct effects of gunpowderexplosives.

Cai’s early two-dimensional works focus on themesthat would continue to resonate through his work:• references to Chinese folklore and mythology;• the use of gunpowder, a famous Chinese inventionthat is charged with cultural nationalism; and

• the expression of concern for humanity—thehuman condition in relationship to “the visibleand invisible worlds”—which remains his centralsubject.

The gunpowder painting Self-Portrait: A SubjugatedSoul (1985/89) is a transitional work made duringthe end of Cai’s time in China before he moved toJapan in 1986. He never showed the gunpowderpaintings in China because he was concerned thatthey would be misconstrued as a “rebellious gestureor unpatriotic act.” The work reflects the tumultuousemotions he experienced during this period. Caitook this work with him when he left China andreworked it after the events in Tian’anmen Squarein 1989, repainting the background and adding thesubtitle A Subjugated Soul. The revised titlesuperimposes new meaning on the painting byprojecting the feelings of alienation and lonelinessCai experienced as an expatriate separated from hishomeland during a dark time in its history.

Self-Portrait: A Subjugated Soul, 1985/89.Gunpowder and oil on canvas, 167 x 118 cm.

Collection of Leo Shih, Taiwan

What is your response to this work?How is it similar to or different fromother self-portraits you have seen?

What does it tell you about theartist who created it? What does itnot tell you?

Although Cai created this work inChina, he felt that he could notshow these experimental works in aconservative and highly politicizedenvironment. Think of somethingthat you have created. Who are youwilling or not willing to share it with?What influences your decision?

Cai worked on this painting twice.First during its initial creation in 1986while he was living in China and thenagain in 1989 after the Tian’anmenSquare protests when he was livingin Japan. The Tian’anmen Squareprotests were demonstrations criticalof the ruling Chinese CommunistParty. They were centered onTian’anmen Square in the city ofBeijing, and the resulting militarycrackdown on the protesters by thegovernment left hundreds of civiliansdead or injured. How does thesubtitle A Subjugated Soul changeyour response to this work?

• In 1985 Cai created his two Typhoon paintings by using an electric fanto energize the paint surface. Choose a natural phenomenon—flood,tornado, hurricane, earthquake, monsoon, sandstorm—and create awork that embodies that force. Both the way your work is made(process) and the way it looks (product) should reflect the naturalphenomenon you have selected.

• An artist’s self-portrait can show us more than just facial features.They can also reveal inner states of mind. Look at self-portraits byartists you admire, and then consider what would be the best andmost authentic way for you to create a self-portrait. What mediumshould you choose? Why? How will you depict yourself? What sizeand shape should this work be? Create the most personal of self-portraits, and like Cai, only share it in the right environment.

• In Cai’s search to find a material that would afford him “a sense ofliberation” he experimented with many methods. However he feelshis early efforts failed because, “my eyes remained in control of myhands.” What might Cai have meant by this statement? In what wayscould working with gunpowder prove to be liberating?

• Research the Tian’anmen Square protests of 1989 and the worldwidereaction to this important historical event. Compare Tian’anmenSquare to recent protests by monks in Myanmar (formerly knownas Burma). Have a class discussion to share your findings.

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Show: Self-Portrait: A Subjugated Soul, 1985/89

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“I wanted to investigate both the destructive and theconstructive nature of gunpowder, and to look at howdestruction can create something as well.”

Cai’s drawings made by igniting gunpowderexplosives laid on paper constitute a new mediumof contemporary artistic expression. Like hisexplosion events the gunpowder drawings conveyhis central idea of using natural energy forces tocreate works that connect both the artist and theviewer with a primordial state of chaos, contained inthe moment of explosion. They also demonstratehis central interest in the relationship of matter andenergy. Matter (gunpowder) explodes into energyand reverts to matter in another state (the charreddrawing). In this way these works are charts of time,process, and transformation.

To create the drawings Cai places sheets ofspecially made paper on the floor and thenarranges gunpowder fuses and loose explosivepowders—and sometimes cardboard or paperstencils are also used—to create silhouetted formsover the paper’s surface. Here and there, he layswooden boards to effectively disperse the patternsresulting from smoke and the impact of theexplosion. He then weights all these elements inplace with rocks to intensify the explosion. Oncethe setup is completed, he ignites a fuse at one endof the work with a stick of burning incense. Then,with loud bangs, the ignited gunpowder rips acrossthe surface of the paper, lighting the array of

explosives according to its designated pattern andengaging artist and onlookers in a momentaryencounter with the spectacular power of explosivedestruction. A second or two later, the paper lies inclouds of acrid smoke. Assistants run to stamp outany embers with rags. Finally, the drawing isremoved from the floor and hung up vertically forthe artist’s inspection.

Extension (1994), like many of the gunpowderdrawings, is inspired by one of Cai’s large-scaleexplosion events, in this case, Project to Extend theGreat Wall of China by 10,000 Meters: Project forExtraterrestrials No. 10 (1993), for which Cai igniteda line of fire—evocative of a dragon gliding acrossthe land—using 10,000 meters of fuse extendingfrom the end of the Great Wall into the GobiDesert. The drawing is mounted on 12 oversizedpanels, and the viewer must walk along the lengthof the work to fully experience it. The panels of thefolding screen are displayed in a pattern that shiftsthe perspective of the drawing in and out,mimicking the peaks and valleys of the Great Wallwhile also suggesting, as does the wall itself, theundulating body of a dragon.

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Extension, 1994. Gunpowder on paper, mountedon wood as 12-panel folding screen, 236 x

1,560 cm overall. Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo

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Measuring 256 x 1,560 cm (morethan 7 feet high and 50 feet long),this drawing is enormous in scale.On a hallway wall of your school usestring or masking tape to delineatethe dimensions of this drawing. Howdoes realizing the size of this workinfluence your response to it?

Cai intended for this drawing to referto the undulating forms of the GreatWall of China and a dragon, whichare two symbols of China. In whatways does this drawing suggest theseforms? What other associations comemind as you look at this drawing?

This drawing is the combined resultof the artist’s careful planning and theenergy of a forceful explosion. Whichelements of this work seem to bepreplanned and which seem to be theresult of an explosion?

If you did not know that this drawingwas created by the use of agunpowder explosion, how mightyou think that it was made?

• Although you cannot use gunpowder to produce your work, thereare alternative materials and processes you can experiment with tocreate works of art. Consider nontraditional materials found in natureas well as elemental forces, including sun, wind, earth, and water thatmight be used in the creation of art. Like Cai, you should documentyour process through the use of digital photography and/or videoand share both the process and product with your classmates.

• Cai has conceived some of his works as Projects for Extraterrestrialsand designed them to be viewed from a celestial vantage point.They call into question whether there might be other intelligentforms of life in the universe and address the possibility ofcommunication with other beings. Consider designing your ownProject for Extraterrestrials. Create a plan with you own ideas onhow you might attract the attention of and initiate communicationwith an alien life form.

• Cai asks, “If beings from another planet landed here, what kindof things should they see to understand human achievement?”Create your own response to this question, and share your ideaswith your classmates.

• The Great Wall of China—parts of which were built as early thefifth century BCE—was constructed to protect China’s northernborders from invasion. Investigate other walls in history, both real andimaginary, including the Berlin Wall (Cai focused on this historicalwall in his installation Head On in 2006), the Iron Curtain, the wallsof Jericho, the Western Wall in Jerusalem, and any other walls youcan discover. Think about the purpose of walls throughout history,and consider the alternatives available in today’s world. Then discussthe extent to which such barriers remain practical.

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Show: Extension, 1994

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One of China’s most famous invention, gunpowder—literally meaning “fire medicine” in Chinese—wasoriginally discovered by ninth-century Taoistalchemists who were searching for an “elixir ofimmortality.” Over the years Cai has developedhis use of this medium into elaborate explosionsevents. These projects are usually commissionedby museums, art biennials, or national andinternational agencies and are conceived as worksof art with their own conceptual, allegorical, andmetaphorical narratives.

Cai’s explosion events operate as performancescreated for live public audiences, whose impact—thunderous bangs, fiery light, and smoke—conjuresboth violent chaos and ritual celebration. Each eventis thoroughly documented through photographs,videos, and drawings.

By harnessing fire as an ancient and constantelement of geological formation, social ritual,religious purification, and life’s destruction, Cai’sexplosion events represent the artist’s central interestin both ancient and modern cosmological science.

In March 2004 Cai was invited to Valencia to discussa possible project. On March 11, only three daysbefore his departure for Spain, the city of Madridsuffered a terrorist attack, a series of coordinatedcommuter train bombings that killed 191 people andwounded more than eighteen hundred. This tragedyprompted the artist to develop Black Rainbow:

Explosion Project for Valencia (2005), which, withits black fireworks that were specifically inventedto explode in daylight, commemorate the victimsof the train bombings by evoking the ritual of gunsalutes that honor fallen soldiers lost in battle.

Cai inverted the brilliance of fireworks designed toexplode against a dark night sky by exploding theblack fireworks during the day. He has stated thatBlack Rainbow, like ancient smoke signals, signaledalarm. A somber and dreamlike salute, the ominousarc of smoke also served as a reminder that, despitecontemporary associations of such materials withterrorism, explosives can possess ethereal andprofound beauty.

The project in Valencia commenced at midday,unfolding in three successive rounds of explosions,perhaps alluding to the three train stations that werebombed during the busy morning rush hour. Theblack rainbow erupted against a blue sky, and thenslowly dissolved leaving a dark cloud.

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“In China every significant social occasion of any kind goodor bad . . . is marked by the explosion of fireworks . . . likethe town crier, announcing whatever’s going on in town.”

Black Rainbow: Explosion Project for Valencia, 2005.Realized at Old Turia Riverbed Park, between Royal Bridge

and Trinidad Bridge, Valencia, May 22, 2005, 12:05 PM,approximately 1 minute. 1,400 3-inch black smoke shells.Commissioned by Insitut Valencia d’Art Modern for the

exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: On Black Fireworks

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Although the photographdocumenting it cannot provide theexperience of the explosion eventitself, after reading the descriptionand looking at the photo describeyour reaction to this work.

There are many possible symbolicinterpretations for Black Rainbow:Explosion Project for Valencia.Read more about the terrorist attackthat prompted Cai’s response athttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/3504912.stm. Also consider someof the ideas the artist incorporatedinto this explosion event, includingassociations with the color black, withexplosions, and with rainbows. Thenwrite a paragraph describing yourconsidered response to this work.

How is Cai’s use of fireworks forBlack Rainbow similar to or differentfrom fireworks displays that you haveseen?

Imagine that you are a resident ofValencia. Is this an event that youwould have supported and attended?Explain.

• Consider how and why people mark important events in theircountry’s history. Research and discuss the history and rituals involvedin various memorial events in the United States, including, Veteran’sDay, Memorial Day, and Pearl Harbor Day or days that mark morerecent tragedies such the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11.Compare the way that such events are marked in comparison tocelebratory events such as Independence Day.

• Choose a national holiday or another day of remembrance andworking in groups, design a thoughtful and original way tocommemorate the event. Diagrams, video and/or still images,recorded sound, three-dimensional models, and/or written texts maybe incorporated into the presentations. Each group should come upwith one agreed-upon design to share with the whole class.

• In conjunction with another one of Cai’s explosion events,Tornado: Explosion Project for the Festival of China (2005), acomprehensive microsite was created that allows students todesign their own explosion event. Visit http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/fireworks/main.html

• The production of some of Cai’s explosion events involves theexpenditure of great amounts of time and effort, as well as lots ofmoney. All this productive energy is burned up in a flash. Accordingto Cai the cost of these events is part of the work, “It’s a triumph ofspiritual reality over material reality. Because money is a symbol ofpower, status, and privilege in our society, and exploding $200,000worth in fifteen seconds is in itself a statement.” Discuss whether youagree or disagree with the artist’s statement.

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Show: Black Rainbow: Explosion Project for Valencia, 2005

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I N S T A L L A T I O N S ( 1 )

Cai’s early training in stage design proved to be theperfect preparation for his dynamic installations.Spatially, the display of elements floating in spacegives a sense of antigravity and other-worldliness.Similar to unfolding Chinese hand scroll paintingsand screens, the installations unfold as Caicomposes a linear sequence that implies movementthrough an event.

Since 9/11 terrorist attacks and suicide bombingshave become a central theme of Cai’s work. Theclearest example, Inopportune: Stage One (2004),was first realized in December 2004 for theexhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Inopportune at theMassachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art(MASS MoCA), North Adams, and is now in thecollection of the Seattle Art Museum. It simulatesthe trajectory of an exploding automobile tumblingthrough space, offering up the contradictionbetween a spectator’s abhorrence of violence andattraction to the abstract beauty of some violentimages. Nine white Ford Tauruses are positioned invarious stages of movement through the air. Thefirst car remains inert on the ground. As eachsubsequent vehicle progresses through thesequence in midair, electric light rods protrudingfrom their bodies emit blinding, flashing lights thatmimic an exploding bomb as well as fireworks. The

palette of the light rods begins with a white, hotlight, and grows progressively warmer and morevibrant as the angles of the cars rise and the”explosion” progresses through time, then quietsdown into soft hues of purple and pink and at last asoft blue. The last vehicle is placed on the ground,absent of any light, as if the car bombing neverhappened. The overall composition has the look ofmotion photography or a sequence of freezeframes from a movie. According to the artist, theexpansive horizontal layout—which viewers walkalong and through to experience fully—also refersto the temporal experience of viewing Chinesehandscroll paintings, whose narratives unfoldhorizontally.

For the exhibition copy of Inopportune: Stage Onefabricated for his Guggenheim retrospective, Caihas reconfigured the work as a vertical installationthat rises up through the open central space of themuseum’s rotunda building.

Model (2007) for installation of Inopportune: Stage One (2004)at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, in 2008

“ We live in a world full of terror, of discussion and fear ofterror. However, if you present only that, you are not providinga perspective. What if it is also something that is verybeautiful and dreamlike? Does that reflect something? I alwayscome back to this point: that art ought not to just restatewhat we know and how we live, it must provide a perspective,a distance.”

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What is your first response to thiswork? Make a list of all the words thatcome to mind to describe this workand your reaction to it. In class shareyour responses. How many are shared?How many are unique?

The original version of this work isconfigured as a horizontal installation.The exhibition copy fabricated for theGuggenheim has been reconfigureddramatically as a vertical installation thatbegins on the ground floor and endswith the last car resting on the highestlevel of the rotunda’s ramp. Whichinstallation would you prefer to visit?Why?

Cai frequently reconfigures componentsof his installations. Think of anotherway that these nine cars could be shownin a different space, for instance yourschool cafeteria, a local shopping mallor a town park.

Cai sees both beauty and destruction inviolence. Discuss this dichotomy andthe possibility of being both attracted toand repelled by a single image or event.

Inopportune: Stage One ends with onecar that has landed safely, without ascratch or dent, with all four wheelssecurely on the ground. How does thispositioning affect the way you interpretthis work?

• Although Cai is depicting a car bombing, a terrorist act that isaimed at destruction, he is avidly nonideological and declares thatan artist’s task is not to say whether something is good or bad butsimply to show reality in a new way. Do you agree or disagree?Explain your response.

• In planning the installation of Inopportune: Stage One for theGuggenheim’s exhibition, Cai used an architectural model of themuseum and model cars to choreograph the most dramatic verticaleffect. Sketch a plan for an installation work. Then, use cardboardor foamcore to create the architectural model for a space whereyour work would be installed. Using readymade toys or handmademodels show how your installation would be realized within thespace. Share you ideas with your classmates.

• Art critics have compared Inopportune: Stage One to works byother artists, including:Eadweard Muybridge (1830–1904), Transverse Gallop, 1887:http://www.math.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/images/muybridge_galloping_horse.jpgLorenzo Bernini (1598–1680), Ecstasy of St. Theresa, 1652:www.bbc.co.uk/arts/powerofart/popups/bernini.shtmlChen Rong (13th century), Nine Dragons, 1244; this work isin the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston:http://www.mfa.org/index.asp

What parallels to Cai’s work do you see in each of these works?

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Show: Model (2007) for installation ofInopportune: Stage One (2004)

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“People ask me why I made this work [Venice’s RentCollection Courtyard], and I obviously have many reasons. . . .[But] I acted more upon intuition. . . . You have to knowwhen to follow your intuition because it is then that things canbecome fun and interesting.”

I N S T A L L A T I O N S ( 2 )

As a boy growing up in China, Cai saw the iconicsocialist-realist sculpture Rent Collection Courtyard,created in 1965 by members of the Sichuan Fine ArtsInstitute. The 1965 version, which still exists inmultiples located throughout China, is composed of114 life-size figures arranged in a series of groupingsdepicting the mistreatment of peasants at the handsof prerevolutionary landlords. For a decade, it wasreproduced and erected in cities throughout China,where it was the most emotionally charged andpolitical image after Mao’s portrait. It was hailed bythe central government as a tribute to the greataccomplishments of Chinese communism.

Cai’s Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard was realizedfor the Aperto Over All exhibition at the 1999 VeniceBiennale. He invited ten sculptors to Venice fromChina, including Long Xu Li, who had worked on theoriginal sculpture, to re-create selected groupings.Cai’s installation was fashioned on site from wire andwood armatures and 60 tons of clay. Perhaps themost compelling encounters with the piece tookplace during the opening days of the exhibition whilethe academically trained artists from China wereintentionally still hard at work producing the life-sizefigures as visitors looked on. During the remainingmonths of the exhibition the unfired clay figures wereleft to slowly dry and disintegrate, and any that stillremained at the close of Aperto Over All were thendestroyed.

In Venice the installation was praised for itspostmodernist appropriation of the historic icon andwon the Venice Biennale’s important Golden Lionaward. In China, however, the work was severelycriticized. The Chinese press raised the issue ofplagiarism, writing about the political controversyraised by the work and the widespread belief that Caiwas attacking his homeland. A copyright infringementlawsuit against Cai and the Biennale was filed inChina by sculptors who participated in creating theoriginal work, but the courts ultimately dismissed thecase.

For the Guggenheim’s exhibition Cai has created anew version of the installation, New York’s RentCollection Courtyard (2008), this time on the ramp ofthe museum’s rotunda. Again, Chinese artists havecome to replicate the clay figures, and visitors will beable to watch as the work is completed.

Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard, 1999.First realized June 1999 at Deposito Polveri, Arsenale, Venice.

Artwork not extant. Commissioned by Venice Biennale

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This work is meant to be experienced inperson. Imagine yourself walking amongthese figures as they are being createdon the ramps of the GuggenheimMuseum. What is your reaction to thework? What would you want to ask thesculptors?

These figures are crafted from clay.Without being fired in a kiln they beginto crack and deteriorate. Cai has madethis deterioration part of the work. Howdoes the fact that they are impermanentaffect the meaning of the work?

Cai remembers seeing Rent CollectionCourtyard as a child. He hascommented, “I first saw the work as ayoung person in China and was verymoved by it. The work was replicatedin every city in China; everyoneexperienced it and was moved by it.Often people would even cry. At thattime I didn’t understand the work’scultural strategy, or that the intentionwas propagandistic, but now as acontemporary artist, I notice thetechniques that were used to engagewith people and make them feel like partof the work.” Look carefully at the work.What “strategies” do you think Cai isreferring to? How does this work createempathy? How is it propaganda?

• This work was awarded the Golden Lion at the 1999 Venice Biennalebut was also severely criticized in China. Discuss how the same workviewed from different perspectives can evoke different responses andemotions. Debate this issue in your classroom with one group seeingthe work from the perspective of the Biennale judges and a secondgroup taking the side of the Chinese journalists.

• Create a sculpture from unfired clay where the fragility of the workwill be part of its meaning.

• This work was neither originally conceived of by Cai nor fabricated byhim. Cai’s creative act was remembering the strong emotions it hadevoked in him as a child and understanding that by re-creating it inanother context, he could create a new work, a new dialogue.Sometimes the act of moving something from its usual environmentinto another setting can change its meaning. Experiment with thisidea. Document this process photographically, first showing yoursubject in its customary environment and then in a new site aimed attransforming its meaning. Discuss your work and its intensions withyour classmates.

• Although Cai was emotionally moved by this work when he visited itas a child, as an adult he came to see it as political propaganda. Canyou think of anything that you experienced as a young child that haschanged its meaning for you as you have grown older? A story, object,holiday, film, book, or place and so on? Describe how your thinkinghas changed.

• Cai recognizes that his early training in stage design has proveduseful. “My current work draws a great deal on these years of study.I learned how to read an architectural plan, draw up a budget, getorganized, and work in a team. When I make something, I do not onlythink of myself.” What profession do you aspire to? What skills do youthink will be most important to acquire? Interview professionals in thatfield and ask them which earlier experiences were most important inhelping them to prepare for their current work. Make a list of waysthat you might be able to gain some of these preparatory skills andexperiences.

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Show: Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard, 1999

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“This museum has everything that other museums have—a space, a curator, light, audience—but it does not have allthe baggage that comes with new museums, such asinsurance, climate controls, electricity, security guards, etc.,so I faced a challenge similar to when the primitive cavemenfirst painted on the wall.”

S O C I A L P R O J E C T S

In the early 1990s Cai began what are called “socialprojects,” which strive to integrate contemporary artinto the everyday life of communities and cities.Assuming the role of cultural activist, Cai begancollaborating at nonart sites, creating opportunitiesfor dialogue and participation.

This thinking has been extended to consider thenature of museums and their possibilities. To thisend Cai founded his own museum franchisedubbed Everything Is Museum. Inspired by artistJoseph Beuys’ philosophy that anyone can be anartist, Cai shifted that idea to propose that anyplace can be a museum and took on the role ofcurator, a specialist with a critical eye who selects aseries of artworks and decides how they will bedisplayed. To date the Everything Is Museum seriesincludes six interventions into unusual, abandonedsites such as pottery kilns, old bridges, and militarybunkers. Collaborating with government officials,artisans, volunteers, and contemporary artists, Caiuses extraordinary leadership to realize thesecomplex large-scale projects. Responding to theconditions of each new location for a project, hecarefully considers its history and culture with thesensibility of an archaeologist or historian.

One project, BMoCA (Bunker Museum ofContemporary Art) on Kinmen Island, which for

five decades was primarily a military garrisonprotecting Taiwan from Mainland China and wherethousands of soldiers and civilians lost their livesduring attacks by communist Chinese forces. Thisisland held special meaning for Cai because hegrew up in Mainland China in Quanzhou, a portcity just across the Taiwan Strait, and rememberedfrom his childhood the noise of bombers flying toand back from Taiwan and the explosive sounds ofartillery. He dreamed of converting Kinmen’snetwork of vacant military bunkers into sites for artand creativity. For the inaugural BMoCA exhibitionCai invited 18 artists from China, Taiwan, and theChinese diaspora to create site-specific works totransform Kinmen into a place for experimentalartistic and community programs, includingexhibitions by local school children.

In 2009 Cai plans to open QMoCA (QuanzhouMuseum of Contemporary Art) in his hometown.This new structure will be designed by NormanFoster’s architectural firm, Foster + Partners, andfunction as a community-based museum andperformance center. An exhibition documentingthe Everything Is Museum series is on view in theGuggenheim Museum’s Sackler Center for ArtsEducation, where visitors are invited to create anddisplay their own ideas for unique museum sites.

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WangWen-chih, Dragon Dares Tiger Lair, 2004.Bamboo and rattan. Installation view at

Nanshan Fortification No. 2 Bunker, BMoCA, Kinmen Island

Wang Wen-chih, born in Taiwan in1959, is one of the 18 artists Caiinvited to exhibit at BMoCA. AtNanshan Fortification Bunker No. 2,Wang worked with a group ofcraftsmen to build a bamboo andrattan artillery-shell-shaped towernearly 50-feet high and a networkof tunnels that invite climbing andresting. He was interested inintegrating the former war zone withits natural environment and providinga calm place for meditation: “Mywork searches for harmony aftercatastrophe or massive destruction.”What is your response to Wang’swork? Do you think he hasaccomplished his stated intention?Is this a place you would want toexperience? Explain.

In what ways is BMoCA differentfrom museums you have experienced?In what ways is it similar?

Would you have liked to participate inthis project? Imagine you are one ofthe schoolchildren who were invitedto transform a military bunker.Describe the type of space you wouldhave created. What do you think youmight learn and/or remember fromthis experience?

For his Everything Is Museum projectsCai, an internationally known artist,takes on the job of curator, choosingthe art that will be shown instead ofcreating it. Which job appeals to youmore, artist or curator? Why?

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Show: Wang Wen-chih, Dragon Dares Tiger Lair, 2004.

V I E W + D I S C U S S F U R T H E R E X P L O R A T I O N S

• Cai has asserted that “everyone is an artist” and “everything ismuseum.” What do you think the artist means by these statements?Do you agree or disagree with his assertions? Explain.

• For five decades, from 1949 until the 1990s, Kinmen’s strategiclocation, between Mainland China and Taiwan, placed the island atthe center of ongoing tensions. Research the history of the conflictand have a class discussion about what you learn. How has Caiaddressed this history in creating BMoCA?

• If Cai were to come to your community looking for a site for anotherEverything Is Museum project, what site(s) would you suggest to him?Why? What do you think should be inside that museum space? Why?

• During Cai’s exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to create anddisplay a model of their Everything Is Museum site in the GuggenheimMuseum’s Sackler Center for Arts Education. Think of a real orimaginary structure that would make an interesting or unique site for amuseum. It may be a familiar place or something from your wildestimagination. Create a sketch or paper model for your museum anddescribe the type of exhibitions one might see and/or experiences onemight have while visiting it.

• When asked “What is a Chinese artist? What is an Asian artist? Whatis an international artist? What is a contemporary artist? What is atraditional artist?” Cai replied, “It is me, This is what I am. Our timeshave given us the opportunity to belong to every category.” Afterviewing Cai’s work do you agree? What aspects of his work can bedeemed Chinese? Asian? International? Contemporary? Traditional?

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RESOURCES

BIBLIOGRAPHYBunker Museum of Contemporary Art, Kinmen Island: APermanent Sanctuary for Art in a Demilitarized Zone. Taipei:Kinmen County Government, 2006. With essays by CaiGuo-Qiang, Chiang Bo-wei, Bridget Goodbody, Nan Fang-Shuo, Ni Tsai-Chin, and James Putnam. Editions in Chineseand English.

Cai Guo-Qiang: An Arbitrary History, Exh. cat. Lyon: Muséed’Art Contemporain de Lyon and Milan: 5 ContinentsEditions srl, 2002. With essays by Fei Dawei, FrançoisJullien, Jan Hoet, Nanjo Fumio, Thierry Raspail, and WangMingxian, and an interview with Jérôme Sans. In Frenchand English.

Cai Guo-Qiang: Long Scroll. Exh, cat, Ottawa: NationalGallery of Canada, 2006. With an essay and interviewby Jonathan Shaughnessy.

Fei Dawei, ed. Cai Guo-Qiang. Exh. cat. London: Thames &Hudson and Paris: Fondation Cartier pour l’artcontemporain, 2000. With an essay by Fei Dawei andinterviews with Fei Dawei and Andrei Ujica. Editions inFrench and English.

Friis-Hansen, Dana, Octavio Zaya, and Serizawa Takashi.Cai Guo-Qiang. London: Phaidon Press Limited, 2002.

Krens, Thomas, and Alexandra Munroe, Cai Guo-Qiang:I Want To Believe, Exh. cat. New York: GuggenheimMuseum, 2008. With essays by David Joselit, Miwon Kwon,Alexandra Munroe, and Wang Hui.

Sollins, Susan. Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century 3,New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2005.

DVDSSollins, Susan. Art 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century,Season 3, PBS Home Video, 2005.

WEB SITEShttp://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/fireworks/main.htmlThe Kennedy Center, Artsedge. Lesson plans for grades9–12 integrating visual arts, language arts, and sciencecreated in conjunction with Cai Guo-Qiang’s explosionevent Tornado: Explosion Project for the Festival of China(2005). Includes documentation and a microsite wherestudents can design their own explosion event.

www.caiguoqiang.comCai Guo-Qiang’s Web site with links to articles, writings,exhibition history, and project documentation.

www.guggenheim.org/artscurriculumThe educator’s guide is available with downloadable imageson the Guggenheim’s Web site.

www.pbs.org/art21/artists/cai/index.htmlArt 21: Art in the Twenty-First Century, Web site for the PBSseries focusing on contemporary art and artists, includingCai Guo-Qiang.

This educator’s guide is adapted from Thomas Krens and Alexandra Munroe, Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want To Believe, exh. cat.(New York: Guggenheim Museum, 2008) .

All works by Cai Guo-Qiang © 2008 Cai Guo-Qiang. Used by permission. All rights reserved.I Want to Believe ™ is used with permission of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.

APPROPRIATION The concept of taking possession of existing materials,imagery, or techniques from everyday life, popular culture, or pasttraditions, often without permission, and reusing it in a context thatdiffers from its original one. Appropriation techniques are frequentlyused in order to reveal meaning not previously seen in the original.

CULTURAL REVOLUTION A comprehensive reform movement in Chinainitiated by Mao Zedong to eliminate counterrevolutionary elements inthe country's institutions and leadership. It lasted from 1966 to 1976 andwas characterized by military rule, purges of intellectuals, restructuringof the educational system, and social and economic chaos.

FENG SHUI (pronounced fuhng shwey) Literally “wind and water,” theChinese art or practice of positioning objects, especially graves,buildings, and furniture, to create harmonious surroundings by enhancingthe balance of yin and yang and the flow of energy.

INSTALLATION An artwork designed for a specific gallery space.Its components are to be viewed as a single work of art.

POSTMODERNIST Postmodernist theory questions and dismantles thegrand narrative of Western culture. It includes appropriation and otheraesthetic approaches that critique modernism’s principles of innovation,artistic authenticity, and individual expression.

PROJECTS FOR EXTRATERRESTRIALS Cai’s monumentally scaled eventsthat seek to create a form of communication between humankind andthe universe.

SOCIALIST REALIST Art that is realistic in form and socialist in content.Socialist realism was first adopted officially by the Soviet Union andwas later embraced by other communist countries such as China. InChina socialist-realist art sought to glorify the communist regime ledby Mao Zedong.

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