For my analysis of a piece of my artist’s work, I am picking an entire series of photographs, because it seems the artist saw them as a group and not individual works. This series is entitled The Century with Mushroom Clouds and is photographs of gunpowder explosions he made to look like mushroom clouds taken across the United States. Locations included Manhattan, the Great Salt Lake in Utah and the atomic bomb testing site in Nevada. These pieces are all photographs of Cai’s chosen medium gunpowder. The pictures are all taken in a way that you can see not only the gunpowder but also the scenery of the place it was set off along with the artist himself with his back turned to look towards his work. 

Can is famously known for his use of gunpowder to create art. Gunpowder was originally invented in China as an elixir of life and then later on used as an explosive (Monroe). This gives a sort of dual meaning to Cai’s work here, where he is portraying gunpowder as the most deadly explosion known to man, the mushroom cloud of a nuclear bomb, yet made out of a substance invented to heal. According to the artist he believes that “the mushroom cloud was one of the most important symbols of the twentieth century” (Tufnell, 2012), in that now it is seen as a symbol of power and destruction more than it is inflicting it (since his little gunpowder clouds where essentially harmless and just for show). He compares this to the Great Wall of China, in that while it does not keep enemies out it is a vital sign of power and if it were to be destroyed would have a bigger emotional impact than military (Tufnell, 2012). The most moving place, I think, that he photographed one of his mushroom clouds at the Nevada Nuclear Test site. He tells a story of how when he set it off the military personnel that had escorted him were so shocked they called their supervisors, who called their supervisors and so on until it reached the White House. However, when they realized it was just gunpowder from firecrackers they let it go (Tufnell, 2012). This antidote goes to show how just a meaningless firecracker explosion can trigger such panic simply because of what it is reminiscent of. 

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the Twentieth Century (Manhattan) 1996
Realised in New York City, looking towards Manhattan, 20 April 1996
Gunpowder and cardboard tube

https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds

The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century (Nevada Test Site)
1996
Realized at Nevada Test Site, February 13, 1996, approximately 3 seconds
Gunpowder (10 g) and cardboard tube
[Ephemeral] https://caiguoqiang.com/projects/projects-1996/century-with-mushroom-clouds/

The rest of the series can be seen on Cai’s website here

Munroe, Alexandra. “Cai Guo-Qiang Drawing for the Century with Mushroom Clouds: Project for the 20th Century.” Guggenheim., last modified -03-26T20:41:35+00:00, accessed Apr 16, 2020, https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/map/parts-and-wholes.

Ben Tufnell, ‘Atomic Tourism and False Memories: Cai Guo-Qiang’s The Century with Mushroom Clouds: Art & Environment’, in Tate Papers, no.17, Spring 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/17/atomic-tourism-and-false-memories-cai-guo-qiangs-the-century-with-mushroom-clouds, accessed 17 April 2020.