9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
CAI GUO-QIANG in

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
In the twenty-first century

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My work is sometimes like the poppy flower

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
It has this almost romantic side

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But yet, it also represents poison

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Gun powder

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
From it's very essence,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
you can see so much of the power of the universe,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
how we came to be.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
You can express these grand ideas about the cosmos.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Very epic and heroic,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
but at the same time it's used for such destruction.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Gun powder possesses a physical danger anyone who is near it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
But with time you get to know the material.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
First you have to accept that it's uncontrollable.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And then work with it.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
I've worked with the material so long,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
that I've gained an understanding with how it works

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
My way of doing it is just to flow with the material.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
To let it take me where it wants to go.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
So I continuously want it to give me problems.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
Give me obstacles to overcome.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
This whole process of making drawing is very much like lovemaking.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
From the very beginning of laying down the paper,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
it's like laying down the sheets on the bed.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
1:59[br]And it's a very long process.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:01[br]Always working towards a final goal.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:09[br]And all the time there's this feeling that you just want it to explode.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:13[br]To finish.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:18[br]But you're afraid that maybe it's too early,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:21[br]maybe it's not the best time yet.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
2:22[br]Maybe you need to work on it a little more.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:18[br]And then afterwards, you either have great satisfaction

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:21[br]or you have disappointment as to your entire performance.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:28[br]You can talk all day about the ancient philosophies

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:31[br]and modern philosophies, art history,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:33[br]criticism, theory, subject matter, historical context,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:38[br]contemporary, post-modernism, form, representation.

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:43[br]All these things can be discussed, but in the end,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:47[br]it's really this on sight performance so to speak,

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
3:51[br]that really makes a work.