As onlookers watch tremulously, a blast ensues, and once assistants have stamped out embers and the smoke has cleared, the singed residue of the “drawing” is visible.Ĭai Guo-Qiang's Sunshine and Solitude (2010), installed at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City Photo: Diego Berruecos courtesy of MUACīeyond delving into processes like this one, the Getty was interested in exploring how Cai’s thinking, rooted in Taoism, alchemy, feng shui, astrophysics and cultural history, relates to his materials, and how he envisions his works lasting in years to come. Then he sprinkles gunpowder carefully around the lines, covers the ensemble with sheets of cardboard weighed down with bricks or rocks to control the force of the explosion, and lights the fuse. Sometimes he adds foliage or garments like abayas (for Memories (2011), presented in Doha, Qatar) to the mix. The artist sketches on high-quality Japanese paper placed on the floor, often also laying down stencils he has cut out from cardboard. Since then the institute has burrowed into the artist’s oeuvre and discovered that his works are surprisingly durable.Ĭai, an energetic international traveller who is based in New York, is perhaps best known for his gunpowder drawings.
“We wanted to include more contemporary artists and a more diverse range and radical use of materials,” says Rivenc, who is leading the Cai study. So far every book has centred on a US or European artist who is no longer living: Willem de Kooning, Jean-Paul Riopelle, Lucio Fontana and Hans Hofmann.
Sparklers stencil art project canvas series#
The goal was to produce a book about Cai for The Artist’s Materials series issued by Getty Publications.
Sparklers stencil art project canvas full#
But the organisation had a counterproposal, she says: to investigate the full range of the artist’s oeuvre, including his early, more tentative oils, transitional works, black gunpowder drawings and visceral museum installations as well as the coloured gunpowder paintings. “We thought, ‘That’s great,’” says Rachel Rivenc, an associate scientist at the institute. To find out, the Chinese-born artist contacted the Getty Conservation Institute in Los Angeles in early 2016, asking its staff to take a look at the works that he had started making by detonating daytime fireworks on canvas the previous year. But recently Cai became curious about another uncertainty: how his coloured gunpowder paintings will hold up over time. Crucial to his process is the element of surprise: a level of uncertainty and suspense about exactly what effect his detonations will have on his works on paper, for example, or how smoke will billow in ephemeral events like his project to extend the Great Wall of China with two fuse lines.
Stock Illustrations by wenani 73 / 6,839 Red Carpet Clipart by xalex 86 / 3,415 diamond against white Stock Illustrations by robertasch 112 / 9,424 Stars on blue striped background.The restlessly inventive artist Cai Guo-Qiang is known for his radical experimentation with materials-especially gunpowder, which he has used to ignite his drawings and to stage explosive events outdoors for awestruck viewers around the world. Drawing by gordonsaunders 3 / 330 Stars burst Stock Illustration by milinz 24 / 1,350 Holiday Stock Illustration by Razvodovska 1 / 149 Christmas Tree Clipart by xalex 295 / 14,633 Three cupcakes with sparklers Clipart by RuthBlack 2 / 6 Sparklers Stock Illustration by keeweegirl 0 / 0 Cinema Banners Stock Illustration by xalex 193 / 10,873 Twinkley Lights and Stars Christmas Background Stock Illustration by luceluceluce 228 / 3,818 Golden crown on glowing backgroun Stock Illustration by Dazdraperma 78 / 8,608 golden star Stock Illustration by Ancello 73 / 5,607 Flames and fire signs Stock Illustrations by soleilc 114 / 16,465 Christmas / winter background with stars, snow flakes and wavy lines on blue background with light dots for your festive occasions. Sparklers on black Stock Illustration by piai 10 / 580 sparkler Stock Illustration by Ancello 15 / 1,410 Golden background with stars and twinkly lights Stock Illustrations by Megapixelina 240 / 5,442 Vector Fireworks, sparkler and American flag Stock Illustration by borat 7 / 377 Pink fireworks and 2010 written with sparklers against black sky.
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