Gunpowder, fire, water, wood and earth are among the ingredients that the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang uses to exploit his knowledge of Chinese medicine, Taoism, chaos theory and physics to form his environments. Qiang belongs to a generation of Chinese artists who stress their country’s culture and history in their work. Nevertheless, the work of this artist, who lives in New York, is never merely folksy or exotic. It stands between old and new, east and west, traditional values and modern technology, local and global contexts.
Cai Guo-Qiang is known largely for the pictures he produced with the aid of gunpowder and fire, as well as his spectacular pyrotechnic installations and “fire lines”. Qiang will be realizing two new major installations in Vienna which will be on show in combination with an overview of his work.
On November 6, 1999, Qiang will be marking the site of the future Kunsthalle with a “fire line” on the cranes high over the area of the Museum Quarter that will be widely visible throughout Vienna.