I didn’t expect to be called “The Picasso of Architecture” Frank Gehry’s first work in China was actually a personal art exhibition center designed for Cai Guoqiang. It was a total ecstasy.
The design sketch is as follows. It seems a bit abstract
but as soon as the renderings come out, the full sense of design is immediately revealed.
Irregular but flowing lines, transparent and colorful inlays, and everywhere are filled with the artistic atmosphere that an exhibition center should have.
In order to celebrate the start of this project that has been dormant for ten years, Cai Guoqiang used ,000 drones and 1.5w fireworks to create a big show with the theme of "Mirage" .
When it comes to fireworks, Cai Guoqiang is undoubtedly a world-class master. From the Beijing Olympics to the creation of the 500-meter pyrotechnic ladder that shocked the world and broke through the milestones in the fireworks technology industry.
For many people, fireworks are just an accelerant for romantic moments. For him, these two words have run through Cai Guoqiang’s life.
Hardcore Cai Guoqiang
Use fireworks to detonate contemporary art
As one of China's four great inventions, gunpowder has always been a subversive existence in history. It was the first chemical explosive that humans mastered.
The formation of gunpowder was not intentional. Its origin was that early people refined elixirs in pursuit of immortality. Unexpectedly, an explosion occurred during the elixir refining process, thus indirectly inventing gunpowder.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, gunpowder was mostly a matter of dispute, and it basically appeared in war situations.
Now, after gunpowder has been transformed into fireworks, it has become a concrete expression of romance.
Cai Guoqiang was not particularly fond of fireworks from the beginning. At first, he was influenced by his father, a calligrapher, and embarked on the road of painting. At that time, his style was cautious and regular.
Until he used a gunpowder painting to blast out a new path, and in this way he released his inner depression.
In the 1990s, at the age of 129, he decided to go to Japan with his wife to find some new ways out, hoping to use gunpowder painting to open up the Japanese art market.
But his gunpowder paintings were not favored by the art world. At that time, one person commented on him that no matter how you paint, you cannot surpass Picasso.
This sentence did not extinguish his enthusiasm for pursuing art, but instead opened up new ideas.
"On this table (art market), there are already Chinese and Western food. Now there is some confusion. I am wondering if I can ignore this table or tear off the tablecloth."
Cai Guoqiang first tried to dig out the gunpowder itself. The possibilities have been extended to some extent. In addition to his yearning for art, Cai Guoqiang himself also has a strong interest in exploring the universe.
There was a legend at the time that the Great Wall was the only building that could be seen from space.
He used 600 kilograms of gunpowder to extend the original length of the Great Wall by 10,000 meters. He tried to dialogue with space through such actions.
In 1994, he once again broadened the possibilities of gunpowder. He wanted to use fireworks to build a ladder to connect the earth and the universe.
This idea was inspired by a legend from his childhood that as long as a person stands more than 500 meters high, he can touch the clouds.
In the 1990s, he tried once, but it was canceled due to weather conditions. The second time was canceled due to external factors. When the third time was about to be realized, he was defeated again due to opposition from local residents. Didn't happen.
Most people may think that it is fate that God has repeatedly failed to cooperate, and the plan will be shelved, but Cai Guoqiang has never thought of giving up.
After persisting for 21 years, Cai Guoqiang finally realized the ladder plan in his hometown of Quanzhou.
Ladder is a memorial to his childhood memories and an explanation for his three failures in the past 21 years.
More importantly, this is a gift for a centenarian grandma.
At that time, my grandma was unable to go to the scene because she was seriously ill, so he held up his mobile phone to videotape her and let her watch the live broadcast.
In the midst of much anticipation, the ladder to heaven was finally completed. A month later, Grandma Cai Guoqiang passed away. The existence of the
ladder gives this art a deeper meaning.
"I have become a gorgeous person and climbed up, and you looked down with longing."
The success of the ladder has once again refreshed Cai Guoqiang's name at home and abroad.
Before that, his works had long been world-renowned, from the 2008 Olympics to the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China...
It was just that at that time, people remembered more of his fireworks works, not his Just a name.
From technology to creativity, pyrotechnic artist
uses the sky as his canvas and fireworks as his brush
Cai Guoqiang served as the chief visual effects art designer for the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games. used 29 large footprints along the central axis of Beijing, Step by step towards the Bird's Nest.
These 29 big footprints represent that the historical footprint of the 29th Olympic Games has finally reached China and the Bird's Nest.
Although fireworks are fleeting, this scene has become a famous scene that countless people have an impression of the opening ceremony.
Cai Guoqiang is good at using fireworks to create spectacular scenes, and behind the shock is a long process of challenging technology and creative brainstorming.
Ever since Cai Guoqiang became obsessed with fireworks, through his works, I have really seen different types of fireworks.
In his eyes, fireworks themselves are an art, and what he wants to do is to make the fireworks give more surprises.
The fireworks I saw in the past were all exploded in the sky with the night sky as the background, but he took a different approach and opened a new chapter of fireworks with daytime fireworks.
When setting off fireworks during the day, it is twice as difficult to achieve both the color of the fireworks as they bloom and the shape against the sky background.
He directly embedded the fireworks shells into the chip, so that the blasting time can be controlled, even to the millisecond.
Therefore, many fireworks for large-scale occasions are completed in this form.
The first reaction of many people when they see these fireworks is how polluting the environment is...
But Cai Guoqiang himself used fireworks to make many environmentally friendly fireworks. He directly eliminated this problem from the raw materials of gunpowder. existence, the choice is degradable toner .
After the technological breakthrough reaches a certain level, it is a creative display and an expression of art.
For example, The welcoming pine in the Winter Olympics, Zhang Yimou, as the chief director, always wants both, it should be grand but not overwhelming, and it must reflect the beauty in a way that can move a thousand pounds.
But from the 2008 Olympics to last year's Winter Olympics, Cai Guoqiang has always firmly grasped the Chinese aesthetic that Zhang Yimou wanted.
The welcoming pine is technically very difficult to realize. It must be in a three-dimensional spray shape and show the details of pine needles when spread out.
More importantly, the image and concept of the welcoming pine are finalized. Now that fireworks technology has reached a high-tech level, how can we convey our aesthetic concepts through the form of fireworks?
Finally, we chose the welcoming pine because it can symbolize hospitality and welcome.
Looking from a distance, the welcoming pine and the bird's nest are together, and they look like a traditional Chinese bonsai, and they have a different scenery.
In Cai Guoqiang's original words, "The moment the fireworks are set off, the performance is no longer my own work, but the work of the country."
Whether it is a ladder of personal artistic expression, or it represents a national-level aesthetic Cai Guoqiang's fireworks already have a unique style.
Fireworks are fleeting but their brilliance lasts forever. As they are set off again and again, his works prove what it means to be a true moment that is eternity.
Almost everyone has a memory of being moved by fireworks.
Perhaps you are standing with countless strangers waiting for the fireworks at the beginning of the new year after the New Year's Eve countdown, setting off Spring Festival fireworks with family and friends, or commemorating a special moment with your lover with romantic fireworks.
Fireworks seem to have special meaning at many moments, but more importantly, they come from emotions.
But for Cai Guoqiang, he said, "I don't care about success or failure when making fireworks. I only care about whether it is fun."
Even if it is an unprecedented ladder, it is difficult for anyone to create it. When he mentioned this work, he still thought of his childhood. Memory, he wanted to leave the legend of the ladder with his works.
When looking at Cai Guoqiang’s works and interviews, what impressed me the most was not his specific works, but his pure mentality towards art.
He faced the camera and said that there are still many unfinished works, but in his opinion this is a good thing. If an artist can realize what he wants, it can easily become a career.
Why can everyone be moved by his works again and again?
Yang believes that he still has the childishness in his heart. For example, when talking to interviewers, he always inadvertently reveals his curiosity about the world and his expectations for new works.
Just like what "Thirteen Invitations" describes, "He is good at getting lost like a beast, and remains innocent like a child."
Art is often like this. The more you chase, the harder it is to reach, and he used his pure love for art once and for all. The second place gives surprises to the world.
Reference:
"Ladder to Heaven: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang"
"Dialogue, the most powerful explosive art of mankind!" 》
