"What influenced me most when we began to learn about Western contemporary art in the 1980s was not a particular work, tendency, or idea but rather the huge amount of information suddenly made available: this vast, hundred-year span of modern and contemporary Western art. The main impression it left me with was: ‘Damn, you can do anything you want!’

Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957). Self-Portrait: A Subjugated Soul, 1985/89. Gunpowder and oil on canvas, 167 x 118 cm. Collection of Leo Shih, Taiwan

As Cai approached his late twenties, he began experimenting with art-making techniques that directly harnessed the spontaneity of natural forces. Initially he experimented with laying oil paint on canvas and blasting it with air blown from an electric fan that he held over the surface of the canvas, shaping the movement of paint with the force of wind. He titled each of the two works he created in this way Typhoon (1985). Their swirling imagery and the process of creation represent Cai’s yearning to create art that does not just depict a natural phenomenon but is itself the direct manifestation of that phenomenon—in this case, a windstorm.

In 1984 Cai introduced gunpowder ignited directly on his oil canvases, which he positioned horizontally on the floor. He lit fuses igniting the gunpowder and creating loud bangs and flashes of fire, which then vanished in clouds of smoke. The result was a textured surface that looked and felt like an explosion, blackened and charred. Cai would continue to develop a process where these natural forces allowed him to relinquish control, resulting in compositions formed by the random marks of sparks and smoke. Soon after his move to Japan in 1986, Cai switched from igniting gunpowder on painted canvases to igniting it directly on sheets of Japanese-made paper. By the end of this period of experimentation Cai had established a distinctive visual language incorporating the direct effects of gunpowder explosives.

Cai’s early two-dimensional works focus on themes that would continue to resonate through his work:

• references to Chinese folklore and mythology;
• the use of gunpowder, a famous Chinese invention that is charged with cultural nationalism; and
• the expression of concern for humanity—the human condition in relationship to “the visible and invisible worlds”—which remains his central subject.

The gunpowder painting Self-Portrait: A Subjugated Soul (1985/89) is a transitional work made during the end of Cai’s time in China before he moved to Japan in 1986. He never showed the gunpowder paintings in China because he was concerned that they would be misconstrued as a “rebellious gesture or unpatriotic act.” The work reflects the tumultuous emotions he experienced during this period. Cai took this work with him when he left China and reworked it after the events in Tian’anmen Square in 1989, repainting the background and adding the subtitle A Subjugated Soul. The revised title superimposes new meaning on the painting by projecting the feelings of alienation and loneliness Cai experienced as an expatriate separated from his homeland during a dark time in its history.

• What is your response to this work? How is it similar to or different from other self-portraits you have seen?
• What does it tell you about the artist who created it? What does it not tell you?
• Although Cai created this work in China, he felt that he could not show these experimental works in a conservative and highly politicized environment. Think of something that you have created. Who are you willing or not willing to share it with? What influences your decision?
• Cai worked on this painting twice, first during its initial creation in 1986 while he was living in China and then again in 1989 after the Tian’anmen Square protests when he was living in Japan. The Tian’anmen Square protests were demonstrations critical of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. They were centered on Tian’anmen Square in the city of Beijing, and the resulting military crackdown on the protesters by the government left hundreds of civilians dead or injured. How does the subtitle A Subjugated Soul change your response to this work?

• In 1985 Cai created his two Typhoon paintings by using an electric fan to energize the paint surface. Choose a natural phenomenon—flood, tornado, hurricane, earthquake, monsoon, sandstorm—and create a work that embodies that force. Both the way your work is made (process) and the way it looks (product) should reflect the natural phenomenon you have selected.
  Visual Arts


• An artist’s self-portrait can show us more than just facial features. They can also reveal inner states of mind. Look at self-portraits by artists you admire, and then consider what would be the best and most authentic way for you to create a self-portrait. What medium should you choose? Why? How will you depict yourself? What size and shape should this work be? Create the most personal of self portraits, and, like Cai, only share it in the right environment.
  Visual Arts


• In Cai’s search to find a material that would afford him “a sense of liberation” he experimented with many methods. However, he feels his early efforts failed because “my eyes remained in control of my hands.” What might Cai have meant by this statement? In what ways could working with gunpowder prove to be liberating?
  Visual Arts


• Research the Tian’anmen Square protests of 1989 and the worldwide reaction to this important historical event. Compare Tian’anmen Square to recent protests by monks in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). Have a class discussion to share your findings.
  Social Studies