Power

Cai Guo-Qiang’s work is what I would consider art. His art presented in the episode is so creative, and yet pulled from the traditions of the Chinese. The gunpowder works were my favorite. He describes how to work with the material, which is what anyone would do, if they were specializing in it. I guess it just threw me off guard that it was gunpowder. It wasn’t just smeared but actually set off (blown up). The piece below is my favorite because I like the contrast between the colors. It reminds me of ink. I like the dark dominate figure and also what it is over shadowing, which seems to be people or a person in the left hand corner. This might sound bizarre, but the black residue from the gunpowder and the semi burnt light brown/tan color surrounding it, resembles the shading of a tattoo. In my opinion the tall figure could be a tree or a giant figure/monster. The second piece of four panels is also shown because I just think that it is beautiful. The little specs of yellow and the sort of blue, gray grass makes the object (tree) pop and makes it the tree recognizable.

Guo-Qiang also is consistence with his art. The exhibits picture below of the tigers and cars are similar. They are suspended in the air. He said that he didn’t like the heaviness of the object when it is on the ground. The objects in the air become more interesting and help tell the story. A story is something that he also mentioned. The notebook that is folded out is a way to see a story, “reading the story,” and not just looking at the picture. So in essence the cars and animals are frames of a story.