Gunpowder livens up contemporary art at NGV
Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang takes explosive art to a whole new level by using gunpowder in his creative process.
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Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang takes explosive art to a whole new level by using gunpowder in his creative process.
A Williamstown warehouse was cracking yesterday with the sound of his gunpowder exploding to create peony patterns on silk.
“I’ve used gunpowder in my art for the past 30 years,” Guo-Qiang said.
“What I like most about it is its spontaneity and unpredictability. Every situation is different.
Its an unknown which you will accomplish with the help of an invisible force.”
The work he created yesterday is one of the largest to feature in the NGV’s Winter Masterpieces exhibition Cai Guo-Qiang: The Transient Landscape, presented in parallel with Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality.
It depicts one of the blooming phases of the peony and will be displayed with a porcelain mound covered with porcelain peonies.
It will be one of the highlights of his exhibition, along with his sculpture of 10,000 porcelain birds suspended from the ceiling.
The exhibition opens at the NGV, May 24-October 13.