Peace With A Bang
Cai Guo-Qiang, who has been the subject of retrospective exhibitions this year at both Bilbao and New York Guggenheim Museums, is the recipient of the
7th Hiroshima Art Prize, the purpose of which is to contribute "to the prosperity of all humankind by appealing to the world for the spread of the Spirit
of Hiroshima." First awarded in 1989, the prize (which is organised by the City of Hiroshima, Hiroshima City Culture Foundation and Asahi Shimbun) is
awarded every three years and an associated exhibition held the following year.
A rough shorthand for the "Spirit of Hiroshima" is the quest for world peace. Cai Guo-Qiang does this most notably through the creative use of gunpowder.
Several projection screens show his invention with gunpowder in 'installation-style' and also more conventional firework displays. Many will have seen his
work as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the opening and closing ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics.
Unsurprisingly, his involvement attracted criticism on the grounds of widespread human rights abuses in China.
The first exhibit, though, the product of chisels, not gunpowder, is a nine-panelled green limestone frieze in search of a building, Cai Guo-Qiang’s
reflections on the terror attack on the Twin Towers and its aftermath, created by Chinese artisans from a design by the artist. It’s a ham-fisted
monstrosity but fun to peruse and identify modern motifs in a medium most likely associated with the origins of civilization. Opposite alongside the
frieze are paired bamboo-impaled crocodiles stuck with knives, forks, scissors and other sharp implements confiscated at airport security checks in the
wake of 9/11; cheekily titled Move Along Nothing To See Here, a blithe utterance by police at accidents whatever atrocities may be spattered across
pavements and sidewalks.
Downstairs is an enormous exhibit commissioned by HCMOCA, a gunpowder drawing 4m by 45m, a giant sumi-e style landscape set up with artificial lake on
the floor of the gallery. Gallery-goers visibly lingered in the presence of this huge artwork, sitting on the floor to take it all in and shuffling in
socks around a walkway which allows a closer look.
The final exhibit is comprised of sand, flowers and the skeleton of a wooden ship discovered half-submerged in sand on the Pacific coast near Iwaki City.
The exhibition runs until January 12th at the Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art.
Click here for more details.
Don Fowler
December 2008 |
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