In “Love Letter of the Celestial Family”, artist Cai Gu-Qiang will draw the sky
Known for himself with a primitive exercise, the artist Cai Gu-Qiang explores the creative potential of a medium of an unconventional medium: deeply rooted in ancient tradition: gunpowder. Soon, he will bring his visionary message to the sky above the US capital with the world premiere Love letter from the Earth: Painting of the Skycreated in collaboration with his custom AI model CAI.
The night performance will be part of “Earth to Space: Art Breaks the Sky,” a three-week festival in Washington, D.C. organized by the Kennedy Center to provide new perspectives to our universe through artistic discovery and scientific research. The observer talks with the artist ahead of the upcoming gunpowder show, another subtle moment in the relationship between his home country and the United States, also marked by global geopolitical instability.
CAI transforms gunpowder from destructive weapons to creative tools, connecting past and present when projecting art into alternative universes and poetic aspects. Although his sky maps reference traditional Chinese ink painting, calligraphy and painting landscapes, they also elevate these forms to spiritual and philosophical fields defined by Taoist principles (for example) Wu Wei (Easy action) and gas (gas). These works embrace the unpredictability of fluid systems that control important energy and power, reflecting the inherent harmony of Taoism within the entropy principle that shapes the universe.
CAI commissioned the project last May and followed his long fascination with the observable universe. “Since I was young, I was fascinated by the stars, and the theme of the universe has always been the core of my artistic pursuits,” he told Observer. “I also resonate with the “cooperation and care” call for festivals.”
Lively on the Potomac River outside Kennedy Center on March 28, the work will combine large-scale predictions, spotlights and daytime fireworks with a custom show, allowing viewers to “paint” the night sky in real time to create a romantic cosmic story. “This work was inspired by the 36,000-km ‘cemetery orbit’ on Earth,” the artist said. “It will follow a satellite journey called Stella, paying tribute to the Hubble Space Telescope while searching for alien civilizations.”
With the recent major political shift in the Kennedy Center, the artist hopes Interracial love letter Will transcend political gravity and embody the ideal of diversity, cooperation and universality to provide a creative and open vision beyond the scope of the earth. Cai Gu-Qiang’s choice to work with gunpowder was never explicitly politicized, but he acknowledged that the results were inevitably political. “As I said in my recent Nobel Prize event, ‘Using explosives to create beauty rather than war and violence brings hope to our shared future for humanity.’’
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CAI is not a newcomer to explore the coexistence of the harmonious universe between Beings, the theme coincides with the concept of “interspecies”, which envisions new forms of interconnected and symbioticity between humans and non-humans and non-humans. In the late 1980s, he was already exploring the perspectives of the universe and the alien viewpoints, hoping that contemporary art would transcend the binary of the East and the West. Alien concept from Latin Arianusmeaning “other”, suggests the potential of alternative futures. As he describes, the result of his early exploration is a series of “alien projects”: viewing humanity from a distant, otherworldly perspective on the audience and conceptual lenses they imagine.
“Ironically, despite globalization and the setbacks in pursuit of diversity and equality, the rapid development of artificial intelligence seems to be raising the foundations of a long-standing central attitude toward humanity,” Cai Guo-Qiang added that the rise of AI, quantum mechanics and space exploration have a challenging traditional definition of the world and the essence of life. “As something like ‘AI develops self-awareness?’ and “Can it be just a tool? ” Still rooted in a human-centered perspective.
Cai Gu-Qiang’s work often requires a change of perspective, and Earth to Space is an open invitation to rethink our place in the wider cosmic system and find a sense of synchrony with it. “I often recall the Buddha’s teachings when staring at the stars and thinking about the origin of the universe,” he said. “‘The universe is not in time; time is in the universe. The seeker is also seeking. All answers belong to consciousness of the present.”
He pointed out that in 1969, humans first set foot on the moon, marking a huge milestone in space exploration. “Now, as artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies develop at an exciting and uncertain future at an unprecedented rate, humanity is ready to return to the moon and even venture into deep space. I hope this festival will inspire our self-awareness of the universe and our shared responsibility for the earth and society.”
In this sense, “Earth to Space” is not only the theme of the festival, but as the artist suggests, something more important. and Interracial love letterHe hopes not only to offer performances, but also to glimpse an alternative way to explore the universe – a kind that ensures a more harmonious coexistence and the survival of all beings.
“Earth to Space: Art breaks the sky” will be held from March 28 to April 20, 2025 at the John Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
