Garage Members’ Screening. Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang

Date

Schedule

21:00–22:30

Place

Garage Screen summer cinema

DESCRIPTION

A members’ screening of Kevin Macdonald’s Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016) offers GARAGE cardholders an opportunity to visit the new open-air cinema at Garage Square a day before it opens to the public.

The first film of Garage Screen summer cinema is Kevin Macdonald’s documentary feature Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016) which portrays the life and practice of contemporary Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, known for his spectacular installations and the use of gunpowder.

Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957) exhibits across the world, and has participated twice in the Venice Biennale. His installation Venice’s Rent Collection Courtyard, replicating figures from a famous sculptural ensemble of the Cultural Revolution era, depicting the sufferings of Chinese peasants before communism was established, won the International Golden Lion award at the 48th edition of the Biennale in 1999.

Gunpowder, one of the most emblematic materials in Chinese culture, plays a significant role in the artist’s practice, using it in his graphic works referencing traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy, as well as temporary installations and fireworks. For Project for Extraterrestrials no.10: Project to Add 10,000 Meters to the Great Wall of China (1993) Cai Guo-Qiang created a fire wall that visually added ten kilometers to the Wall. His fireworks also accompanied the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Kevin Macdonald’s documentary traces the artist’s practice back to 1984, when he used gunpowder for the first time. Cai Guo-Qiang talks about the sources of his inspiration, difficulties in project realization, his father who was a calligrapher, and family history, while working on his next project which was previously impossible—a kilometer-long fire ladder that illuminates the sky of Guangzhou for fifteen minutes.

Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang

Director Kevin Macdonald, 76 min.

USA, 2016

Netflix

how to take part

Admission free, registration required.

The film is screened in the original language with Russian subtitles.