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Opening Up to the Universe: Cai Guoqiang's Methodology from 1986 to 1996

Huang, Linda
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377875580

Abstract Details

2013, MA, University of Cincinnati, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning: Art History.
During his residence in Japan from 1986 to 1995, Cai Guoqiang (b. 1957) developed his philosophical thinking on art, life, and the universe and adopted gunpowder explosion as his major art making method. With a focus on his encounter with Japanese Mono-ha artists and the influences of Japan's culture and history on his art, this study explores how Cai challenged the orthodox forms of Asian art by radically exploding gunpowder and how he adopted Daoist view of the universe to cross cultural and disciplinary boundaries. In the first chapter, I investigate the interrelationship between Cai and Mono-ha artists and disclose the common theme of de-materialization underlying their work. I argue that Cai's artistic use of gunpowder explosion liberates his material from its physical confines and initiates conversations with the unknown power of the universe. In the second chapter, I discuss Cai's reflections on Mono-ha arts and examine the embodiment of "the inner universe and external universe" in his explosion events, through which he established a collaborative working relationship with the invisible natural power. In the last chapter, I further discuss the theme of art and war in his work. By analyzing the metaphorical imagery of the mushroom cloud in his explosion events, I uncover his artistic strategy of simulating, intervening, and deciphering human history. Taking a close look at Cai's early gunpowder explosion projects, this study unveils his subversive methods for escaping the conventional art production modes and expanding the temporal-spatial dimensions of his work, which instills new possibilities and infinite freedom in his art.
Kimberly Paice, Ph.D. (Committee Chair)
Mikiko Hirayama, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Morgan Thomas, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
86 p.
Art History
Mono-ha; dematerialization; Daoism; art production mode; cross boundary; mushroom cloud

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Huang, L. (2013). Opening Up to the Universe: Cai Guoqiang's Methodology from 1986 to 1996 [Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377875580

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Huang, Linda. Opening Up to the Universe: Cai Guoqiang's Methodology from 1986 to 1996. 2013. University of Cincinnati, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377875580.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Huang, Linda. "Opening Up to the Universe: Cai Guoqiang's Methodology from 1986 to 1996." Master's thesis, University of Cincinnati, 2013. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1377875580

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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© 2013, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by University of Cincinnati and OhioLINK.