Globalsim: Cai Guo-Qiang

Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf 1996


Cultural Melting Bath: Project for the 20th Century 1997






Project to Extend the Great Wall of China 10,000metres: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 10 1993


Cai Guo-Qiang and Globalism

Many Eastern artists today use contemporary methods to attack their own surroundings, or traditional methods to attack the homogenisation of the worlds culture, religion, language, tradition etc. Cai Guo-Qiang instead seeks to inform and unite. He calls on not only the spirits of human beings but the spirits of the universe as exercised in his collection of works Project for Extraterrestrials as if to summon in his audience a belief in something other than what we consciously perceive and consider perhaps that what we do in this life truly does affect what happens to us in the next. A more literal interpretation could posing the question, if aliens were to observe earth, what events, symbols, actions etc would they use to create their idea of the human race.

He alludes to significant and tragic events such as the detonation of atomic bombs at locations including Hiroshima and Nagasaki with hope that these events do not recess into our memories to be recalled as only symbols. Instead to be remembered as pivotal moments in history so they are never repeated. Cai brings the lost elements of culture and history to life once more in such works as Cry Dragon/Cry Wolf: The Ark of Genghis Khan 1996 (inflated sheep skins once used to cross rivers now propelled by a Toyota engine) and Reflection – A gift from Iwaki 2004 (Japanese locals surfacing a sunken ship) that invigorate both the community it interacts with and those who view it’s documentation with a sense of unity and positive change.

His gunpowder drawings and explosive events, that can last a fraction of a second and no longer than a few minutes, search the ephemeral for an experience that captures the infinite. Those short and exciting moments are filled with the aggression of war (Cai is very familiar with the sound of gunfire from his childhood province) yet represent a transformation of matter and consciousness. These explosions/detonations utilise a tool of warfare to return it to its origins of creating new life as it was intended through alchemy. Cai’s later works in the United States show how a shift to more contemporary methods are not to be mistaken as an abandonment of tradition or heritage, but a call for new perspectives granted by new materials, new methods and new institutions. His Cultural Melting Bath shown in Japan and the USA brings people from all nationalities and cultures to share the experience of communal bathing (in a spa located in a gallery space), enhancing the experience with a design for a free flow of energy (chi), birds living in the space and herbal remedies in the water. Cai brings people together only to pose the question “is it important to be connected with other people from different backgrounds?” He embodies change as the world is also in a constant state of flux, as well as encouraging inquisition into the nature of globalisation. He does not take a firm stance on whether this increased interaction is either positive or negative, but suggests that it would serve us well to acknowledge its existence, not losing sight of our need to maintain a quest for peace.

He also helps support this view of togetherness through his work Project to Extend the Great Wall of China 10,000 metres: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 10, lighting a line of gunpowder from the end of the Great Wall of Chine 10km out to the desert. Like Francis Alys' Faith Can Move Mountains, the work doesnt have any useful and tangible product except for the inspirational and harmonising capabilities it holds. It changes a cultural perception of the Great Wall from being imposing and having connotations of keeping people apart to becoming a symbol of cooperation and peace.

Annotated Bibliography

Krens, Thomas, Alexandra Munroe. Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want To Believe. New York: Guggenheim Museum Publications, 2009

This expansive retrospective of Cai Guo-Qiang’s work contains a biography tracing his movements geographically, conceptually and through his use of mediums. It provides an insightful glimpse into the way Cai calls upon art practices and theories of the past to enforce his own work politically, socially, culturally and spiritually. This helped me when addressing Cais interaction with a global context, showing how he adopted such ideas as the Dadaist readymade concept bringing it to the world stage with fresh life (such as his Venice Rent Collection Courtyard or Arbitrary History works). Cai was shown as an avid user of binaries such as destruction and creation, distance and proximity, peace and war which gave me an even clearer perspective on Cai’s practice as I began to understand how this Taoist view provides his work with balance in a global arena often riddled with chaotic events and hostile environments that younger generations are rapidly becoming anaesthetised to. He searches in this way as a bystander with nothing but a humble new view. No judgement or criticism; just a new view. His work does however embody contradiction but accepts it to the point that it becomes almost a necessity as long as there is a sense of unity with people. His work is often most powerful when used as a guide for global harmony.
Over 50 works are then featured with small descriptions of their composition and conceptual voice, which also helped when more information was needed on a certain piece. This book was one of few that had information on Cai’s later USA-based work. These more current works help develop my understanding of Cai’s transformation as he moved from country to country.

Friis-Hansen, Dana, Octavio Zaya, Serizawa Takashi. Cai Guo-Qiang. New York: Phaidon Press Inc, 2002

This publication is less diverse (in respect to both its quantity of text and included works) when compared to the previous source, yet chooses to focus on specific areas of interest and expands on them thoroughly. The books most valuable asset is its inclusion of an interview with Cai himself and Serizawa Takashi’s words that traced his and Cai’s efforts during the completion of the work Project to Extend the Great Wall of China 10,000metres: Project for Extraterrestrials No.10. Both texts promote Cai as a well informed artist; one that has engaged with not only his own homeland, but the outside world, either returning with new methods and ideas, or giving the world a perspective of China that transcends the stereotypes commonly assigned to Eastern culture and art. From this publication there is a sense that Cai often tries to break down the walls that separate individuals such as cultural difference.

In addition to these advantages, Cai is shown as one who has a high respect for his own culture unlike many Eastern artists who use contemporaneous art practices to attack their surroundings. Though violent, rash, spontaneous and surreal, Cai’s work is always aimed at finding connectivity between individuals, transformation of ideas and multicultural diversity executed with the highest considerations for the manner of execution and conceptual basis of the pieces.

Heartney, Eleanor. Art and Today. New York: Phaidon Press Inc, 2008 (Globalism p.290-319)

Heartney shows how the Contemporary art period brings with it increased multiculturalism through advances in technology effecting travel, communication and geo-political development. Artists have had almost no choice but to consider the entire world around them as media, culture etc from ll corners of the globe are ever present in their society. She gives an overview of artists and their works that show a considerable interaction and contribution to the world around them. These works include Alfredo Jar confronting the dumping of toxic waste in Nigeria, Andreas Gursky’s questioning of international commerce, Juan Munoz’s use of homogenisation and Yinka Shonibare’s historically and culturally infused installations that consider the colonisation of Africa.

Most useful for my purposes was Heartney’s focus on Eastern contemporary artists Xu Bing, Wenda Gu and of course Cai Guo-Qiang. Xu Bing seems to question the loss of literary culture implying that losing touch with that section of heritage is a loss for mankind and is ultimately negative and while Wenda Gu promotes unity with his multicultural “hair-pieces”, his work, along with Bing’s, appears in galleries most of the time. Personally I believe Cai Guo-Qiang seperates himself as a globally interactive artist transcending the gallery space, participating in site specific work that calls for and at times demands audience participation. Heartney makes it clear that Cai fuses culture, history and a kind of utopian theory (anchored in a call for unity through inevitable change) with the public space and those who inhabit and interact with that space.


Dawei, Fei, Andrei Ujica. Cai Guo-Qiang. New York: Thames and Hudson Ltd, 2000

This publication does not focus on areas that helped me as much as the others, as it often refers to Cia’s works that consider spirituality and outer space. Yet there were a few key words from an interview with Cai that assisted my understanding of his practice and theories. He mentions how he tries to “discover eternity through the ephemeral” which ties well with the fact that many of his works last only moments as the world too changes constantly in almost every respect. He finds parallels with Chinese and Japanese culture where most would find similarities through misleading stereotypes or strict differences, emphasising his search for togetherness. Another asset this book has is the abundance of documentation of Cia’s art which therefore allowed me to assemble a deeper perception of the works.