Cai Guo-Qiang took the ladder and asked God
The Netflix documentary about contemporary art hits 100% on Rotten Tomattoes. Talking about Cai Guo-Qiang (Thai Quoc Cuong), but the film circuit does not tell in a boring linear way like “I am… , born in… , award…”
“Sky Ladder” – a documentary film by Kevin Macdonald, about the life and works of Cai Guo-Qiang (蔡国强 – Cai Guoqiang), a Chinese artist known for his artworks. techniques with the help of gunpowder. The series was released by Netflix on October 14, 2016.
The film gets such a perfect score because Scottish director Kevin Macdonald, best known for his critically acclaimed film, “The Mauritianian” (2021), doesn't tell the artist Cai Guo-Qiang in a boring linear fashion. like how to write "artist A is..., born in..., award..." of young people who are passionate about art paintings, eager to learn wikipedia today.
Documentaries about artists and contemporary art are difficult in that the director must know how to work with the abstract elements of the works and the process of forming the work.
Kevin Macdonald plays the role of a curator recounting the journey of completing Cai Guo-Qiang's lifelong work, "Sky Ladder", which was performed in 2015.
The work, like the name "Thang Troi", is made up of pyrotechnic strings connected together and will be detonated when erected. With Cai Guo-Qiang, besides creating with gunpowder material - the pride of Chinese inventions before the world, the work also carries the mission of connecting heaven and earth with the universe as Christians want to connect. get in touch with God.
As for Kevin, viewers will easily realize that he places the work as a second main character next to Cai Guo-Qiang. The idea is that, but the road to complete the work "Thang Troi" encountered many obstacles from when he was young, until the successful performance in 2015, after 3 cancellations due to various reasons. .
The film still begins by briefly going through the works of artist Cai Guo-Qiang, including sketches, paintings, installations and fireworks performances, and then delves into the process of forming the work. "Heaven's ladder" to his life. Through conversations with experts and assistants, one can easily see the portrait of Cai Guo-Qiang, a comprehensive artist with immense research and creativity, bold depth, and as in enhancing local Chinese materials to represent their identity.
In the film, Cai Guo-Qiang is also fluent in Japanese due to having studied and influenced by Japanese art for a long time. Therefore, in his practice, he always emphasizes the background, sketches, requires technical precision and finally mixes a bit of the artist's madness.
The trademark fireworks works of artist Cai Guo-Qiang are aimed at the masses for performance and aesthetics, but are less oriented towards concepts or challenging people like Marina Abramovich, Ai Wei Wei, etc. His pyrotechnic display – like a comet in a moment geared to the masses and also to the nation – still has contemporary elements thanks to its solid practice foundation. It can be said that, if Cai Guo-Qiang were Vietnamese, he would also be able to elevate Vietnamese puppetry to the level of contemporary art.
In addition, the film also takes on the political challenge on the shoulders of a contemporary artist who wants freedom of expression like Cai Guo-Qiang. He knows how to flexibly improvise so that he can work together with the state, to be a further springboard instead of choosing a antagonistic way, ensuring quality and less impact on the environment for the 2008 Olympics. The contemporary artist also lies in the fact that he or she is pressured by issues of the size of the work: money spent, location, license, etc. Scale, vision and identity are what the artist is. Doctor Cai Guo-Qiang wants to aim.
Cai Guo-Qiang's journey to "Thang Heaven" is still full of humanity. Although he is a famous artist, he still has a family and relationships around him, such as sharing and helping artists who are more difficult, showing his heart. . As for the one who gave birth, the parents died, and each grandmother took care of him since childhood, the ending with "Thang Troi" is for her grandmother.
Cai Guo-Qiang's success is also due to the failure of his first project. He turned his obsession into a motivator for himself. The end of the film is full of emotions when "Heaven's ladder" was successfully pulled up and exploded in Quanzhou (Fujian, China) with the help of fishermen here, everything seemed to explode, mixed with the explosion. , although the project had to be stopped earlier because of the weather. The scene is full of emotions when the artist Cai Guo-Qiang hugs his wife and is full of tears. Although 3 times 7 times choosing remote and prestigious places, fate only allows them to return to their place of origin. Only then, Cai Guo-Qiang was given the strength of heaven and earth and people to catch the ladder to ask God.
Beyond technical, artistic, financial and political factors, artist Cai Guo-Qiang's "Thang Troi" not only connects heaven and earth but also connects the souls of poor fishing village people, and is a identity of an entire nation. But perhaps, the deepest is the connection of an artist like Cai Guo-Qiang to the loved ones around and dreams of better things in the future.
Article: Tam Tam
