Fengshui in Cai's work

The underlying principles of Fengshui are deeply rooted in Chinese cosmology. The essence of fengshui, explains the scholar Ole Bruun, is that configurations of land forms and bodies of water direct the flow of the universal qi, or cosmic currents, which by the advice of a specialist can be brought to optimum advantage for a person’s wealth, happiness, longevity, and procreation; similarly, a malicious flow of qi may bring disaster. The Chinese character 風，means wind, has within it an ancient element, a cocoon, that varries the sense of giving birth,growing, and mulitplying. At the same time, the external form of the character expands and spreads out on either side. The character 水, means water embodies both the form and meaning of flowing movement and infinite extension. The compound fengshui thus incorporates the auspicious concepts of generation, development, and eternal continuation. Through feng and shui, human beings are cosmologically connected with the universe, life and time. The geomantic practice of fengshui thus developed as a result of the study of nature and human relationships to it.

At the core of Chinese cosmology is the concept of qi. Literally meaning “breath”, qi actually refers to the constantly moving essence of life, vital energy, or cosmic breath. Qi was believed to congeal densely into rocks and disperse vapoursly into clouds, transforming its basic matter according to its own cosmological laws. It courses constantly like a flowing gas, a natural fluid, or an electrical circuit, animating all living things, including the landscape. It represents both the unity of all in the cosmos, which proceeds from the same essence, and its differentiation into “myriad things”. Properly responding to and directing the flow of qi is at the essence of fengshui.

In Chinese painting, qi is also essential. In the act of painting, the artist engages in a dialogue with the natural world and harmonizes his or her qi with that of the cosmos. The movement in the painting is thus that of qi. Everything in the image, whether figures, landscape, flowers, trees, or animals, is expected to be filled with vitality as components of one underlying natural unity. In the composition, the placement of empty space is crucial because qi is everywhere. Landscape, water, and mist form contrasts of substance and void. Emptiness enables qi to move freely through the composition. It is the proper arrangement of qi that gives a landscape its sense of liveliness, its essential sense of movement. Artists must provide a place for the qi to enter and to exit. Qi, rhythm, life, and movement.

The aspect of Fengshui lies at the center of many Cai’s projects. Through his work, as audiences engage in the dialogue between humankind and other planets, between people and the earth, the desert, and the city, they also reaffirm their own existence.Gunpowder is a by-product of the Chinese attempt to discover the elixir of immortality. It has the power to destroy but also, by association with cinnabar, the ability to cure and reconstruct. In the physical world, you destroy existing things but at the same time create the opportunity for something to be born or reborn. This is the method Cai uses to communicate with his audience. He knows the violence and danger of gunpowder, but because of this he feels its challenge and interest. Moreover, he feels these kinds of accidental and uncontrollable qualities create vivid new life and give power to his art. “The paint, gunpowder, and other materials, in the course of the explosion, are destroyed, burned, or deconstructed. So this is an intensive battle between power and material. In this confrontation between control and anti-control, between fire and canvas, I try to vividly present the process of exchange between design and materials. This original design was transformed by the explosion and subsequent process of burning. I only designed a model for this process, but to complete these works, I need to rely on the power of nature.”

Cai Guo-Qiang: Explosive Earth Art

Conceptually and visually, Cai’s focus is ultimately the universe that surrounds us: its birth, existence, and destruction. Such themes have has a continuous, cyclical presence in his production over the last twenty years. “Large gun-powder drawings, which depict, in turn, natural forces, fantasy flying machines, and past projects swirling around a galaxy.”

He is a transnational artist, drawing on Chinese and Western artistic traditions but embracing a futuristic vision. His work spans the media of drawing, sculpture, and theater. It is intimate but can be experienced simultaneously by thousands of people. Reconceiving techniques that have been used for centuries, Cai has invented a new way to be a totally contemporary artist. His work has an abstract structure but often encompassses a narrative, telling a stroy or rendering an impression of a landscape or natural experience. It revisits traditional myths and parables through contemporary artistic forms. Chinese philosophy is filtered through the structures of conceptual art to create a unique intellectual armature that shapes the perception of the work.

Cai applies Chinese artistic traditions to the innovations of Land art, using the elements of earth, air, fire, and water in unexpected ways. He has invented a unique approach to exploit these basic natural materials as artistic media. 

In March 2012, seven hundred people were invited to witness the three gunpowder drawings that Cai created for MOCA exhibition. The astonishing spectacle demonstrated the artist’s extraditionary fusion of theatre, drawing, and live sculpture. 

From his work, you can see the high contrast between fire, exploration and the delicate paper material, as well as the patient preparation. It is a powerful drawing of natural forces. 

The engagement with community also plays an important role in his practice.The production of those gun-powder drawings involve studio team, fireworks experts, volunteers and local fire department. It was always a group project, not an isolated individual effort. The work is not static but experimental. The explosion events are shared experiences. His work is made with basic natural elements, but it transcends the material to enter the immaterial. 

Reference: Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974, MOCA. His work has been influenced by and often discussed within the context of the artists Robert Smithson, Michael Heizer, and Dennis Oppenheim; all explore physical mark making upon the landscape.