Cai Guo-Qiang: Falling back to earth

70 71 As in his iconic earlier work Head On 2006, the group consists of precisely 99 animals. Cai explains the reasoning behind this, which is both visual and conceptual: Ninety-nine and nine are both numbers often seen in my work. They are both odd numbers [and therefore] more lively in spatial presentation, [so] that the display will never be symmetrical. Conceptually, they are both symbols of infinity in Chinese culture, and embody the sense of a large quantity. A hundred seems complete and still, while ninety-nine suggests something that is not quite complete, providing a sense of insufficiency and expectation . . . 3 It is clear then that Cai’s aim is not to represent a definitive selection of animals, nor to present a vision of a specific moment and place within the earth’s biological or geological history in the manner of a typical natural history diorama. His animals are not arranged in taxonomic order. His installation is not about the display of knowledge but rather the creation of an allegory. This point is reinforced by the fact that the animals are not completely realistic. While at first we might think we are presented with a tableau of taxidermied creatures, in fact it quickly becomes clear that the animals are artificial constructions. This is a very deliberate strategy. As Cai explains: None of the animals in my work, past or present, are one hundred per cent realistic, including the tigers and the wolves from Inopportune: Stage Two and Head On . That is why I never use taxidermy. They are slightly bigger than their sizes in reality, because they are considered aggressive animals, and we tend to imagine them bigger. The dynamic and anatomy of the work are founded in my imagination, to express my artistic concept. It is an extraordinary spectacle, and one that extends Cai’s ongoing artistic discourse about the nature and meaning of life on earth in this present time, and his concern for the future of the planet. Above Cai Guo-Qiang checking on fabrication process of Heritage , Fuzhou, China, 2013 Centre and below Heritage 2013 fabrication process Photographs: Cai Canhuang Courtesy: Cai Studio II. Since the early 1990s, Cai Guo-Qiang has become known internationally for large-scale events that use fireworks, gunpowder and explosions. While this spectacular aspect of his practice (culminating perhaps in the extraordinary sequence of choreographed fireworks, Footprints of History , designed for the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics in 2008) has achieved international recognition, he has been equally celebrated for a series of ambitious and complex installations in museums around the world. These installations have incorporated materials including cars and boats, scholars’ rocks and artificial animals, as well as participative elements including tea drinking, a small roller coaster and even a hot tub, and have articulated Cai’s idiosyncratic thinking on diverse subjects including terrorism, migration, extraterrestrial intelligence, human consciousness and Chinese and global history. Heritage 2013, the major new work for Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art, seems to unite two strands within this gallery-based side of Cai’s practice. Like earlier pieces such as Inopportune: Stage Two 2004 and Head On 2006, it uses animals as symbols and presents a theatricalised and dramatic tableau that articulates ideas about nature and culture. Yet, it also connects to an ongoing series of works that incorporate schematic landscapes within the space of the gallery, which include as their focus bodies of liquid that form reflecting pools. These dramatic and meditative installations have included Unmanned Nature 2008 at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art, Travels in the Mediterranean 2010 at the Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art Contemporain (MAMAC) in Nice and Sunshine and Solitude 2010 at the Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo (MUAC) in Mexico City. Footprints of History: Fireworks Project for the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games , realised in Beijing, 8 August 2008 Commissioned by The International Olympic Committee and The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Photograph: Hiro Ihara. Courtesy: Cai Studio Reflection – A Gift from Iwaki 2004 Installation view, ‘Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe’, Guggenheim Museum Bilbao 2009 Excavated wooden boat, porcelain Faurschou Collection Photograph: I-Hua Lee. Courtesy: Cai Studio