Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling back to earth

156 157 The story’s friendly aliens who watch over Cai and the children remind us of the extraterrestrials referenced in some of Cai’s previous works. As a young boy, Cai ‘often imagine[d] if he were an extraterrestrial himself, he would not be bound to the limits of national borders established by humankind’. 3 This wonderful story takes the form of an animated short film screened within the exhibition space, and a children’s picture book. In it, the children learn about ten of Cai Guo-Qiang artworks, from the ‘Projects for Extraterrestrials’ series, to social projects undertaken on Kinmen Island in Taiwan and the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, as well as Head On 2006 and Heritage , which children will encounter in ‘Falling Back to Earth’. Extending into the ‘Falling Back to Earth’ exhibition, visitors of all ages engage with the immense Eucalyptus installation, inspired by Cai’s travels to Lamington National Park in south-east Queensland in 2011, and the ancient beauty of the trees that inhabit the region. In the vein of the artist’s social projects, in which he collaborates with audiences to explore ideas relevant to specific places, visitors are invited to write a poem, draw a picture, or write a message to Cai as they contemplate the future of the tree. Through ‘Falling Back to Earth’ and ‘Let’s Create an Exhibition with a Boy Named Cai’, children explore their own creative processes and ideas as much as they gain understanding of the scope of Cai’s extraordinary practice. Animation and publication Let’s Create an Exhibition with a Boy Named Cai is an adventure story that alludes to the popular Chinese fable Peach Blossom Spring in which the young boy Cai travels from country to country creating art with the local children. The narrative features in a beautifully illustrated publication, accompanied by ten Cai Guo-Qiang artwork profiles and an interactive map, and is presented in the exhibition as an animation. Illustrations from Let’s Create an Exhibition with a Boy Named Cai 2013 Story: Cai Guo-Qiang in collaboration with the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Children’s Art Centre All illustrations: Alex Allen Commissioned for ‘Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling Back to Earth’ by the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art Children’s Art Centre with support from the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation © Queensland Art Gallery, Cai Guo-Qiang, Alex Allen 2013