NGV exhibition: Cai Guo-Qiang breathes life into Terracotta Warriors

Artist Cai Guo-Qiang says he doesn’t really enjoy exhibitions of ancient artefacts — so showcasing his works alongside China’s terracotta warriors might seem an unlikely fit. Here’s how he took on the challenge for the NGV’s next major exhibition.

The gunpowder has been ignited and Cai Guo-Qiang has a whole new body of work.

The Chinese contemporary artist’s sculptures and installations will breathe new life into the ancient terracotta warriors when his work is exhibited by their side at the NGV’s winter blockbuster exhibition, Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality and Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape.

TERRACOTTA WARRIORS, CAI GUO-QIANG ON MARCH TO NGV

ENORMOUS NEW TERRACOTTA ARMY FOUND AT EMPEROR’S TOMB

GUNPOWDER LIVENS UP CONTEMPORARY ART AT NGV

NGV director Tony Ellwood said: “Cai Guo-Qiang is one of the most exciting contemporary artists working today.

“Cai’s practice draws parallels between ancient and contemporary Chinese culture, through the use of Chinese inventions like gunpowder, porcelain, silk and paper, exploring the notion that tradition and history can inform contemporary art.”

The Herald Sun asked Cai about his artistic process and purpose ahead of the exhibition, which opens on May 24.

 

Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang used gunpowder to create Transience II (Peony) for the NGV’s winter exhibition. Picture: Jason Edwards

 

What is your vision or artistic concept for the Melbourne exhibition?

This project was a challenge to me from the outset, because I personally do not enjoy exhibitions of ancient artefacts very much.

The artefacts end up being treated as cultural symbols and not examined for their artistry and artistic value.

This was the challenge and also its attraction.

Can I use a new exhibition format to try raising some questions?

Can I use contemporary art elements to turn the terracotta warriors exhibit into an art exhibition, rather than a conventional display of cultural artefacts?

How can contemporary art inspire a more multidimensional connection to history?

These two exhibitions are two rivers of time separated by two millennia, each coursing at their individual speeds across the same galleries.

The ancient and the contemporary — two surges of energy that crisscross, pull, correspond and complement, generating powerful tension and contrast, each attracting and rejecting the other.

 

The 31-metre Transience II (Peony) will be the largest work presented as part of the NGV’s winter exhibition. Picture: Jason Edwards

 

Why does gunpowder resonate with you?

More than 1000 years ago, Chinese alchemists in search of the elixir of immortality inadvertently caused a combustion.

They named their accidental discovery “fire medicine”, a direct translation of the Chinese word for gunpowder.

Gunpowder not only manifests different energies, it is energy.

Each gunpowder work is completed within a short frame of time.

In those moments, my sensibilities clashed and became fused with the materials’ natural characteristics.

The surrounding environment, my movements, state of mind, planned or unpremeditated occurrences, and the instant of combustion which create a space-time state of chaos linking nature, the universe, and an invisible world — are ultimately imprinted in their entirety on the two-dimensional canvas.

You are one of the most famous artists in the world today. What does that mean to you?

I have been concentrating on the studies of painting since a few years ago.

And this made me realised that what I value the most is to make art with the feelings and sensibilities of a young aspiring painter even after I have fought in numerous battles.

While carrying the original intention and passion for painting, I try to unearth new potentials and maintain the mindset of a vigilant soldier. I believe that’s what matters the most.

Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality and Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape, NGV, May 24-Oct 13.