brainstorm1. sparkling
2. magnificent
3. lively
4. chaotic
5. round
6. loud
7. powerful
8. black
9. mysterious
10. rapid
11. damaged
12. crazy
13. creative
14. energetic
15. wild
stream of consciousness
Cai Guo-Qiang's drawing is an explosion of dots across the paper and has a unique feel about it. The way the circle created by the gunpowder feels almost as if it were a symmetrical reflection of it self even though it is not. The dramatics of the way the powder exploded give the illusion that it is still moving outward and inward as you view this drawing. The contrast choice of the paper makes the black and the yellow stick out but yet blend in, if Cai Guo-Qiang would have used bright white paper would he have been convincing in that this was supposed to represent fireworks in a nights sky or what the brightness of the paper cancel that out? Perhaps he wanted to use brighter paper but none was available that would have been suitable for the explosions. One side of this is quite larger than the other, it feels as if the path of the rainbow of gunpowder is being pinched off on the right and aloud to move more freely on the left. Though it feels like this the body of the gunpowder explosion changes so subtle that it is only noticed on one of the far sides of the body. The central line does a good job of making it feel as if it were a reflection in water, this is further helped by the fact that the top of this drawing is more detailed than the bottom. Was Cai Guo-Qiangs goal to capture a snap shot of his real life fireworks rainbow? Or was he merely inspired by this and wanted to see what he could do with gunpowder? Either way the Drawing for Transient Rainbow turned out great and captures the essence of a real rainbow of fireworks over water.
I really enjoy Cai Guo-Qiang's blackpowder drawings they are full of emotion and power and are dramatic. I feel that a large part of art is destruction and this certainly is destruction as a means of creation. Your choice of words are great; magnificent, powerful and mysterious are what I feel while viewing it.
ReplyDeleteI've read a little bit about Cai Guo-Qiang over the past couple years, and I'm wondering if you have done further research on him yet. His process of creation is amazing, this is one of my favorite gunpowder pieces. I remember in one of Cortney's classes a couple years ago we watched a short video of him, and he talks about his father's ink paintings (?--I think, it's been awhile since I've seen it) and how those have played a role in his own work. I also like how he lays out a plan but the chaos of explosion never leaves him with an anticipated product. I think I like how he adapts tradition with modern approaches the most. I'm excited to see where you take this.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy his pieces of work because they are all so unique to one another and I have not seen any other Chinese artist do work like this. It has so much excitement and easily gets you intrigued. What if he were to add more color? Change the color or texture of the paper? That would be neat to see!
ReplyDeleteThis piece is very interesting to me because it is extremely different than traditional Chinese art. I love that his work is new and innovative. It is very energentic but also has a unique beauty that helps pull the viewer in. This piece was one of the first posts that really caught my eye and I am interested in seeing more of his work.
ReplyDeleteI love the movement that is captured in this piece of art, but most of the art of this piece must have been the set-up, without that the piece would look completely different. I think it will be interesting to find out how he made this piece to look the way he did and to discover what influenced the shape and the materials he used to create this unique work of art.
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