Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe

August 19–September 2, 2008

National Art Museum of China, Beijing

Curated by Thomas Krens and Alexandra Munroe

Inopportune: Stage One, 2004. Nine cars and sequenced multichannel light tubes. Dimensions variable.

Installation view of exhibition copy at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Drawing for Footprints of History
2008
Gunpowder on paper (11 sheets)
4 x 33 m

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Footprints of History: Fireworks Project for the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games [Photographic Documentation]
2008
Digital photograph print (photography by Hiro Ihara)
102 x 148.5 cm

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Exhibition view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Bigfoot’s Footprints: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 6
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as eight-panel folding screen
200 x 680 cm overall

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Rebuilding the Berlin Wall: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 7
1991
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as seven-panel folding screen
200 x 595 cm overall
Private collection

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

A Certain Lunar Eclipse: Project for Humankind No. 2
1991
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as seven-panel folding screen
200 x 595 cm overall
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

A Certain Lunar Eclipse: Project for Humankind No. 2
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper, 24-page folding album
33.5 x 320 cm opened
Private collection

Installation view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio

Inverted Pyramid on the Moon: Project for Humankind No. 3
1991
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as eight-panel folding screen
200 x 680 cm overall

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Inverted Pyramid on the Moon: Project for Humankind No. 3
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper, 24-page folding album
33.5 x 320 cm opened
Private collection

Installation view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio

The Vague Border at the Edge of Time/Space Project
1991
Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as seven-panel folding screen
200 x 595 cm overall
Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

The Vague Border at the Edge of Time/Space Project
1989
Gunpowder and ink on paper, 24-page folding album
33.5 x 320 cm opened
Private collection

Photo courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Reviving the Ancient Signal Towers: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 8
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as eight-panel folding screen
200 x 680 cm overall
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Reviving the Ancient Signal Towers: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 8
1989
Gunpowder and ink on paper, 24-page folding album
33.5 x 320 cm opened
Private collection

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

The Immensity of Heaven and Earth: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 11
1991
Gunpowder on paper, mounted on canvas; refrigerator containing soil and ice made out of seawater
Dimensions variable. Gunpowder drawing 200 x 600 cm

Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

Installation view at Fukuoka Asian Art Museum, 2012.

Courtesy Fukuoka Asian Art Museum.

The Immensity of Heaven and Earth: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 11
1991
Gunpowder and ink on paper, 24-page folding album
33.5 x 320 cm opened
Private collection

Installation view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio

Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper, mounted on wood as eight-panel folding screen
200 x 680 cm overall
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tokyo

Photo by André Morin, courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Seismogram, Electroencephalogram, and Electrocardiogram from Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1992
Silkscreen and metallic marker on paper
56 x 76 cm
Limited edition

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9 (gunpowder bag)
1992
Recycled plastic bag originally used to hold gunpowder for the explosion event with original gunpowder label and photograph decals
35 x 23.6 cm
Uneditioned multiple
Collection of the artist

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Drawing for Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1992
Marker pen and ink on paper
48.5 x 66 cm

Photo by Daxin Wu, courtesy Cai Studio.

Drawing for Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1992
Ink on paper
48.5 x 66.5 cm

Photo by Daxin Wu, courtesy Cai Studio.

Drawing for Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1992
Gunpowder, ink, and pen on paper envelope
26.5 x 42 cm

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Drawing for Fetus Movement II: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 9
1992
Gunpowder and ink on paper
66.5 x 48.5 cm with mounting: 70.3 x 51.9 cm

Photo by Daxin Wu, courtesy Cai Studio.

Exhibition view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Extension
1994
Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as 12-panel folding screen
240 x 1564.8 cm overall
Setagaya Art Museum

Installation view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio

Self-Portrait: A Subjugated Soul
1985/89
Gunpowder and oil on canvas
167 x 118 cm
Collection of Leo Shih

Photo courtesy Cai Studio

Drawing for The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century
1995–96
Gunpowder, ink, and dried lingzhi mushroom on paper, 20-page folding album
Lingzhi mushroom: Approximately 16 x 10 x 9 cm irregular dimensions
Solomon. R. Guggenheim Museum

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Ascending Dragon: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 2
1989
Gunpowder and ink on paper
240 x 300 cm
Private collection

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

I Am an Extraterrestrial, Project for Meeting with Tenjin (Heavenly Gods): Project for Extraterrestrials No. 4
1990
Gunpowder and ink on paper mounted on canvas
227.4 x 182 cm
Collection of Fukuoka Asian Art Museum

Photo by Imamura Kaoru.

Chu Ba Wang
1985
Gunpowder, oil, and ink on canvas
155 x 150 cm

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Typhoon
1985
Oil on canvas
78 x 100 cm

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Shadow: Pray for Protection
1985–86
Gunpowder, ink, candle wax, and oil on canvas, mounted on wood
155 x 300 cm

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

Pine Tree and Eagle
2007
Gunpowder on paper, mounted on wood as eight-panel screen
230 x 620 cm overall

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Nine Cars
2004
Gunpowder on paper
400 x 600 cm
Private collection

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Clear Sky Black Cloud: Project for The Metropolitan Museum of Art
2006
Gunpowder on paper
303 x 404 cm

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Head On
2006
Deutsche Guggenheim, Berlin
99 life-sized replicas of wolves and glass wall. Wolves: gauze, resin, and hide
Dimensions variable
Commissioned by Deutsche Bank AG
Deutsche Bank Collection

Installation view of exhibition copy at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Illusion II
2006
9 minutes and 2 seconds, loop
Two-channel video installation
Installation dimensions variable
Edition of 5. Deutsche Bank Collection (1/5) and Collection of the Artist

Installation view of exhibition copy at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

An Arbitrary History: Infinite River, 2008. Installation incorporating resin and bamboo riverbed, water, yak skin and wood boats. Dimensions variable.

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows, 1998. Wooden boat, canvas sail, arrows, metal, rope, Chinese flag, and electric fan. Boat: approximately 152.4 x 720 x 230 cm, arrows: approximately 62 cm each. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, Gift of Patricia Phelps de Cisneros in honor of Glenn D. Lowry.

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008. Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Black and White Peony
2008
Gunpowder on porcelain
66.8 x 37.3 x 5.7 cm

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Wailing Wall—From the Engine of Four Hundred Cars (Documentation)
1992
Documentation images of Wailing Wall–From the Engine of Four Hundred Cars (1992), printed on cloth diapers, and hanging device
Approximately 100 x 120 x 120 cm overall

Installation view as part of Arbitrary History: River at the Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon, 2001.

Photo by Blaise Adilon, courtesy Musée d’art contemporain de Lyon.

Crater
1990
Gunpowder on papier-mâché
56 x 67 x 2.5 cm

Installation view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio

Danger Book: Suicide Fireworks (Unexploded Artist Proof)
2008
Gunpowder, rice paste, and matches on paper
75 x 102.8 x 2 cm opened
Unexploded Artist Proof. Edition size: 9 unique books, proofs: 2 AP (1 exploded, 1 unexploded), 1 Prototype. Individually titled and signed by the artist. Edition commissioned by Ivory Press, 2008.

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Illusion
2004
Three-channel video installation (1 minute and 37 seconds, loop, videography by John Borst, edited by Lauren Petty), car, and spent fireworks
Dimensions variable upon installation. Approximately 150 cm
Seattle Art Museum

Installation view at MASS MoCA, North Adams, 2005.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s Timeline
2008
Installation incorporating artifacts, photographs and other documentation
Dimensions variable

Installation view at the the National Art Museum of China, Beijing, 2008.

Photo by Hiro Ihara, courtesy Cai Studio.

Project to Extend the Great Wall of China by 10,000 Meters: Project for Extraterrestrials No. 10
1994
9 minutes 29 seconds, loop
Three-channel video installation with documentation of explosion event
Videography by Araki Takahisa
Explosion event realized at the Gobi desert, west of the Great Wall, Jiayuguan, Gansu Province, February 27, 1993, 7:35 p.m., 15 minutes
Dimensions variable, approximately 41 x 160 cm

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century (video documentation)
2008 (1996)
1 minute 47 seconds, loop
Videography by Araki Takahisa, edited by Paul Kuranko
Featured in this video compilation: Nevada Test Site, February 13; Michael Heizer’s Double Negative (1969–70), Mormon Mesa, Overton, Nevada, February 14; Looking toward Manhattan, April 20-21, 1996

Photo courtesy Cai Studio.