Cai Guo-Qiang at the goog

i went to see Cai Guo-Qiang at the guggenheim museum this past saturday – and what a mob scene it was. i ran into our swedish intern with his brother and sister in-law who were visiting the city for the week, and for me that was probably the highlight of the show. maybe i'm just biased against big shows at the goog as it's hard for me to imagine the work having any relevance outside their space, especially the cars suspended from the atrium – maybe they need to hire different writer/curators who can write believable/compelling stories to frame the pieces [paraphrased from memory: "stuffed wolves hitting a plexi wall: the plexi represents the berlin wall and the wolves represent man's tendency to repeat mistakes" was my favorite piece of garbage i read at this show], or maybe charging $18 to see a single exhibition [the permanent collection was closed] sets ones expectations too high?

i did LOVE the videos of his live fireworks performance/ethereal art projects. the rainbow in the east river and black rainbows were wonderful as it opens up the mind to think of the sky as a valid though ephemeral canvas for art. the black rainbows in particular are evocative of chinese and japanese sumi-e painting, but you can find these videos online for less money and bother:)