Open Call for Volunteer Models

Photo by Francesco Allegretto. Courtesy Glasstress / Berengo Studio, Venice, Italy.

THIS EVENT IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT!

Would you like to be part of Cai’s upcoming installation?

Cai is presenting a new conceptual work that will be part of the Venice Biennale’s collateral event, Glasstress 2013, collaborating with Murano glass artisans.

For the work, Full-Body Scan, Cai Studio is calling volunteers in New York City to pose for several clothed, full-body portraits, both front and back. There is no dress code. We want you to be yourself!

The photo shoot will run from now until Friday, 10 May. We are willing to work around your schedule. Please email info@caiguoqiang.com with “Venice Project” in the subject line, your availability, and basic info (name, age, gender, ethnicity, etc.) in the body.

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

Footprints of History: Fireworks Projects for the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

The following excerpt is taken from: Cai Guo-Qiang: Hanging Out in the Museum. Taipei: Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2009, pg 109

 

大脚印:為外星人作的計劃第六號
Bigfoot’s Footprints: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 6

Cosmos/Universe: 20 Billion Years
Gunpowder: 200 kg
Primer Cord Fuse” 2,200 Meters
Total Length of Project: 2,000 Meters
Number of “Footprints:” 200
Size of Footprints: 2 Meters
Elapsed Time of Explosion: 20 Seconds
Site: The border between two nations

Method: A mold in the shape of Bigfoot’s footprint will be made. Paper footprints will be made by pouring paper pulp into a footprint-shaped mold. Some fireproof material will be put on the bottom of each footprint to prevent overburning. After the exhibition, all the footprints will be collected. Obtaining concurrent visas for the two countries where the project will be carried out will be one of the elements of the piece.

When humankind finally invents the hyper-speed vehicle, it will be able to catch up with the past and understand it. This leap will be more significant than going to the moon by spacecraft and bringing back some stones.

More important than the exploration of unknown space with physical inventions is the fact that humans are originally a part of universe – the human spirit was born at the time of the creation of the universe, and actually contains vivid memories of the event. Human consciousness can recall memories of the past, and therefore, at a deep level, it has insight into future human direction, potential and danger. The past, including memories of the origin of the universe, and the future can’t be received through physical entities or existing time and space. Only super-humanity is capable of traveling beyond light-speed without being limited by time and space.

With a series of gunpowder explorations covering 2,000 meters in 20 seconds, the footfalls of Bigfoot will stomp into the beyond. It will be a moment of a hyper-creature passing through our planet. Is it the Extraterrestrial or ourselves? The moment when the spirit is present, it will leave physical footprints on the border and will vanish beyond time and space.

When did humans start practicing the unfortunate custom of recognizing national borders? Along these lines, artificial creations that never originally existed, humans have most frequently used the gunpowder which is one result of civilization – and will continue to do so in the future. Every time gunpowder explodes on a border, war occurs and the nightmare is replayed.

The extraterrestrials ignore borders, and the will of super-humanity that lives within us sometimes exercises its fundamental power and also ignores boundaries. Everywhere on earth, there is a horizon that is common to all of humanity, but beyond this horizon, however, there is a place to which we must head through the collaboration of all humankind. It is where we swiftly came from and where we will return… the horizon of the universe.

Cai Guo-Qiang, 1990

 

These project notes and folding screens were created in 1990 and exhibited for the first time in early 1991 at the solo exhibition Primeval Fireball: The Project for Projects at P3 Art and Environment in Tokyo. Since then, it has been exhibited at seven other museums or galleries around the world.

Bigfoot’s Footprints began as a project to be carried out along the border between France and Germany, to be staged later, in 1994 along the Normandy coast as part of ceremonies marking the 50th anniversary of the Allied landings. In 2004, the work was shown in Washington D.C. as part of the Traveler solo exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Finally, in 2008, 29 giant footprints appeared in the sky along the central axis of Beijing when the project was realized as part of the Opening Ceremonies for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

 

 

For Chinese: 大腳印的歷史

Day and Night: A Public Gunpowder Drawing Event

In anticipation of the upcoming solo exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: Hanging Out in the Museum at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, Cai Guo-Qiang will create two new gunpowder drawings: Day and Night and Taroko Gorge. The event is open to the public and will be held on October 17 & 18 at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei, Taiwan.

For more information and to see a live broadcast of the event, please look at the exhibition site (in Chinese). The live video broadcast will start streaming on October 16th at 9 PM EST.

Cai Guo-Qiang making a gunpowder drawings for Wind Shadaow, October 1, 2006.
Photos by Liu Chen-hsiang, courtesy ON OFFICE.

Fire Medicine

Screenshot of VBS.TV's video feature called Cai Guo-Qiang & The Art of Fire Medicine

Check out the video feature on VBS.TV’s website.

Philosophy for Life: Intern Report by Jing Liu

Photo by Phoebe Ford

It has been six months since I started interning at Cai Studio. My concentration in college is neither art nor design; instead, I study economics. Due to my curiosity and luck, I was accepted as an intern at the Studio, and it has turned out to be a precious opportunity, allowing me to reconsider my career path and life attitude.

In the past six months I have had a totally new work experience. My projects at the studio include finishing contour drawings for Cai’s gunpowder art works, cutting contour images, assisting Cai to complete gunpowder drawings in the Grucci basement, joyfully chatting with other assistants in Long Island, keeping library books in order, compiling a recent history document, scanning numerous images, carrying Cai’s art works on wooden panels, and translating many reports related to Cai. Most of the work is detail-oriented. My previous internships in the banking industry were associated with numbers and deadline pressure. Contrary to banking, art has taught me to observe every detail and moment in life; it has relaxed my mind and heart. All of a sudden, I have started to observe life, taking time to view sprouting spring grass and ground fallen into the shade of summer trees. I have given up my old habit of rushing through the street without even lifting my eyes to see the direction. What I have learned from Cai Studio is the philosophy for life and the ability to feel happiness. – Jing Liu

眨眼之间，在蔡工作室实习已达六个月之久。自己并不是学艺术出身，而是与艺术相差十万八千里的经济。出于对艺术的好奇，加上偶然的缘分，我来到与银行业完全不一样的蔡工作室。也许这出自于命运的安排，让一个原本浮躁的我，在如此安静的环境中沉淀与思考。

六个月的时间，和这里大大小小的女孩们一起，经历了与我过去完全不同的生活。记得自己给蔡的火药画作过素描底稿，剪切过底稿的形象，和大家一起到长岛Grucci工厂做过火药画，在长岛谈笑风生，整理过图书馆的书籍，编排过资料室里长达20年之久的档案，扫描过无数的照片，搬过蔡厚重的作品，还翻译过很多关于蔡的文章……工作很细，磨人耐心。与以往的银行经验不同，银行与数字打交道，行情变化万千，时时刻刻都在为下一分下一秒担心，很少有时间来享受当下。而艺术却让人放松，仔细地观察生活中的每一个细节、每一处变化。突然之间，我能注意到春天里小草发芽的勃勃生机，夏天里阳光斑驳着树叶婆娑的跳动。时间变得更为静止，我不再背着厚厚的书本，埋头只顾往前冲，而是学会抬头留意身边的的一草一木。学会的是一种生活的哲学和一种静心感受幸福的能力。

Jing Liu joined the studio as an intern in February.  Her first task was to cut a huge pile of paperboard stencils before we headed off to Long Island to make a 16-panel gunpowder drawing that will be shown at the Fukuoka Asian Art Triennial next month.  This fall, Jing will be a senior at Columbia University.

Hard at work

Photos by Hong Hong Wu

The Intern’s Weekly Report (Part 4)

隐形的艺术

当今社会中艺术无所不在。第四周的实习我体会到了隐形的艺术。剪接短片是艺术学院的基本课程，但学校的课程中学的是手段，在蔡工作室我学到的是利用工具排列出故事情节。剪接出一个容易理解并且画面精彩的短片本身就是艺术。每当看电影时我们常常会忽略每个镜头之间的联系，因为巧妙的手法，使我们忘记剪接的存在。影象，图片，音乐，谈话，节奏，悄悄地引导着观众从一个镜头走进令一个镜头。充满诱惑力的蒙太奇才能锁住观众的心。我通过剪接的机会摸索出了初步的窍门。作品四季之春的体型庞大，制作过程复杂，由16片木板组成，花了多余一天的时间制作。真的能把一天的每个步骤在5分钟内说完吗？ 可以的。细节，是的，将一个画面带到另一个画面靠的是细心的观察，剪错的后果展现的是如闪电般不友好的影象。该柔的地方溶明，溶暗，该刚的地方节奏紧凑。这种排列组合式的隐形艺术不只出现在剪接中，也出现在翻译的世界里。
翻译者本身是一种工具，但这工具必须具有可塑性强的功能。面对不同的作家，不同的主题需要随机应变。换为思考将自己融入其中，但此刻又必须忘我才能达到隐身的境界，成功地为作者表达出真实的心声。Bonnie 和我无意中聊起了翻译的动机。收入并不厚实却又需要花大量时间的工作为什么有那么多乐于其中的翻译家？我们共同走向一个结论。借别人的嘴巴说话，借别人的人生体会。这不是模仿，不是肢体的艺术。这是拷贝，是复印。将一种文化中的声音复印到另一种文化中，最难的地方是读者接收到信息后的反映，感受必须符合作家最原始的目的。这时的翻译已经不是简单的语言，而成为了文化转换器。这个转换器必须由人来担任，因为机器不具备人类的应变能力。在翻译一篇巴西精神分析学家写的关于爆破的论文时我不知不觉地爱上了语言中的排列组合。不同的排列带来不同的感觉，巧妙地将原始语言的排列转换成目标语言的排列，其中会带给翻译人一种快感，就像突然解决出一道难以理解的数学题。在乐趣中慢慢摸索言语的公式，创造出自己的原则，体验别人的心声，同时又链接文化，帮助人们，这种种理由构成了翻译背后的发动机。

Invisible Art
Everything is art in modern society.  I experienced invisible art during my fourth week at Cai Studio. Video editing is a foundation course for design students at Parsons. I learned the tool, but never had a chance to put it in use until Cai Studio. The editing process itself is a form of art, it tells a story. Most of us neglect the relationship in between frames when we watch a movie, and that is due to the distinctive techniques of an editor.  Sequences, images, melody, voice, tempo all come together to lead us from one frame to another. Proactive montage is the only way to grasp the hearts of the audiences. Through the opportunity to edit short demo films on the making of certain artworks, I was able to explore the possibilities in video editing. Piecing together the story and process behind a 16-panel gunpowder drawing on the topic of four seasons. From start to finish, incorporating every step of the making process in five minutes. Is it really possible to fit an entire day into five minutes? Oh yes, and I found a trick! Paying tremendous attention to details is crucial in the process of editing. Cutting at the wrong place lead to a lighting effect when frames are combined.  The process is almost mathematical, permutations, combinations and factoring out the unnecessary. This system also exists in the world of translators.
A translator is a machine trapped in a human body, the machine can only survive in a human body. This is because good translations demand flexibility. It is necessary to alter one’s personality when facing different writers in order to be fully engaged with the work. It’s the only way to be invisible and successfully relocate the voice of a writer.  Bonnie and I shared a conversation on the objective of translators. It is time consuming, definitely not well paid, and sometimes not respected. Why do people do it? We came to the conclusion of having the advantage to borrow one’s voice and personality is what makes translation pleasurable. It’s not imitation, it’s duplication. Duplicating the voice to fit into another culture. It’s not as simple as converting words of languages. It’s becoming a converter for cultures. This converter can never be a machine, machines lack of flexibility and vitality of human beings. I fell in love with the permutations, combinations of words when translating an essay on explosion by a Brazilian psychoanalyst. Having the ability and freedom to create and solve your own equations in languages catered to voices is almost orgasmic.

The leaves are a hint

 

Photos by I-Hua Lee, courtesy Cai Studio

Hidden from view in both these photos is Cai’s contribution to the Artstrong show, which opens July 16th at Emmanuel Perrotin, Paris. (Top photo, fourth from left, is intern Mona Chen.  Bottom photo, second from left, is new archives assistant Phoebe Ford.)