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In 2008, artist Cai Guoqiang dazzled the world with his fireworks projects at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games. This Friday, the pyrotechnic artist and creator of simulated large-scale explosion events, brought a daytime fireworks display to Washiongton DC.
As the assembled crowd counted down with Cai Guoqiang, a 12-meter tall pine tree exploded outside the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, creating a captivating visual spectacle.
As the assembled crowd counted down with Cai Guoqiang, a 12-meter tall pine tree exploded
outside the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, creating a captivating visual spectacle.
First, smoke from the bottom of the tree to the top; then fire, intended to look like sparkling ornaments; and finally, smoke and fire simultaneously, intended to create a sort of a Christmas tree, with black smoke and fiery light. The result was a negative smoke image that resembles a Chinese ink painting.
Cai said, "I want in this way to bring some humorous color to Washington, the political center of the country."
Although Cai Guoqiang’s explosion only lasted two minutes, it took much longer than that to plan his display. To achieve the explosion effects, the artist put a total of 2000 small packs of explosives on the tree.
Cai said, "It’s always difficult to handle explosives. You don’t know what will happen next. But it is this unpredictability that makes me excited."
The explosive performance by Cai was in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Sackler Gallery. The Chinese artist, based in New York, is known for his gunpowder pieces. His work has been featured at the Venice Biennale, the Guggenheim and in 2008, he helped direct the opening and closing ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics.
As the assembled crowd counted down with Cai Guoqiang, a 12-meter tall pine tree exploded
outside the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, creating a captivating visual spectacle.
As the assembled crowd counted down with Cai Guoqiang, a 12-meter tall pine tree exploded
outside the Smithsonian's Sackler Gallery, creating a captivating visual spectacle.
中国公共新闻摘编：GAN JADE |
