No, they’re not real. But they’re spectacular.

Fabrication has begun for Heritage, an installation featuring 99 life-sized animal sculptures, including giraffes, pandas, lions, tigers, and kangaroos, all drinking together from a lake.  The installation,  surrounded by white sand, is inspired by his visit to Stradbroke Island in 2011.

Heritage will be unveiled for Falling Back to Earth, Cai’s first solo exhibition in Australia staged exclusively at Brisbane’s Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art opening November 23, 2013.

All photos by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio.

Hey there – the team’s in Copenhagen!

Cai and studio staff are currently in Copenhagen, Denmark in preparation for his next solo exhibition,  A Clan of Boats.  The show, which celebrates Copenhagen’s long tradition in shipmaking and their maritime history, will include numerous gunpowder drawings.  A sneak peak at the process so far.

Photo by Shu-Wen Lin, courtesy Cai Studio

Photo by Tine Harden

Photo by Tine Harden

Photo by Tine Harden

Photo by Shu-Wen Lin, courtesy Cai Studio

Photo by Tine Harden

Mezcal Pouring!

Cai’s latest work in Mexico City, Sunshine and Solitude, features 14 gunpowder drawings surrounding a pond filled with volcanic rock and 10,000 liters of Mezcal.

Mezcal is a distilled alcoholic beverage made from the maguey plant native to Mexico. It can reach an alcohol content of 55%, with the smell of 10,000 liters somewhat…overwhelming. In this video, Karen from Cai Studio shows us a glimpse of the construction of the Mezcal pond, and interviews Cai, Hong Hong, and all the staff as they pour the liquid.

Process

Photos by Bonnie Huie, courtesy Cai Studio

Photo by Cai Canhuang, courtesy Cai Studio

Here are a few more shots taken back in November when Cai Studio combined forces with Eslite and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum to install Cai Guo-Qiang: Hanging Out in the Museum.

Go Team Iwaki!

Photo by On-Works International Multimedia Ltd.

Please enjoy a few photos of “Team Iwaki” installing Reflection–A Gift from Iwaki for Cai Guo-Qiang: Hanging Out in the Museum.

Working Together

Wen Hao Cai takes a photo of her father in Taipei. Photos by Kelly Ma, courtesy Cai Studio

Explosion Test

Cai Guo-Qiang with Philadelphia fire marshals during an explosion test at The Fabric Workshop and Museum. Photo by Lonnie Graham

Muses

Cai Guo-Qiang, Anne d'Harnoncourt, and Kippy Stroud. Photo by Mona Chen, courtesy Cai Studio

Installation Companion

Kelly went to the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art to install Cai’s work Illusion of Childhood for the Museum’s exhibition Bike Rides, which will open on October 4th. The curator, Monica, invited Kelly to stay with her at her apartment, so Kelly got to meet her chubby cat, Casimiro, who loves to be the center of attention, even when they were just inflating the mattress…

Photos by Kelly Ma, courtesy Cai Studio

A Balancing Act

Photos by Chinyan Wong, courtesy Cai Studio

Cai working with enginners to figure out how to position the Taihu rocks and pine trees for Cultural Melting Bath at The Taiwain Fine Arts Museum, so the building does not collapse and take out the staff office one floor below