I was lucky enough to get a week off work recently to visit my lovely Grandparents in Brisbane. Whilst there my Aunt and cousin took me to see the Gallery of Modern Art/Queensland Art Gallery. There were a few exhibitions on at the time, however the most stunning of them was Falling Back to Earth by Cai Guo-Qiang.
The exhibition begins in a room which contains a tree, a panel hangs on the wall encouraging the viewer to re-imagine the tree and draw it recreated into something, my cousin Amy and I decided that it might make a good cityscape so drew this. The atmosphere of this room was relaxing, especially in comparison to the next room we were to encounter.
The room to the left held an artwork named Head On (2006). This artwork was made up of 99 replica wolves which like the early photographer, Étienne-Jules Marey, capture single moments in time and are merged to create a sense of movement and drama in stationary objects. This well-known work was originally created for an exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim in 2006 and was largely inspired but Berlin's turbulent history. The Berlin Wall, which divided the city during the Cold War era, is portrayed through the large glass panel.
Head On also makes broader statements about human nature. Gaining power and momentum through unity, the wolves appear heroic as they leap towards the unknown. There is the implication that if we blindly follow ideology, or misdirect our strength towards a collective goal, there can be damaging consequences, as displayed on some of the wolves faces.The resilience of the wolves, hitting the glass and getting back up to try again, could be a stark reminder of human kind's difficulty to learn from mistakes. The glass, being transparent, shows that no all obstacles and challenges that we face are easily foreseen, sometimes when we do hit a problem we need to pull ourselves up again and get on with life.
To the room on the right was a more tranquil space, it held a work called (2013) which, like Head On, also contained 99 replicas of animals, however this time they were animals from all around the world united by one waterhole. Cai Guo-Qiang found inspiration for this installation after visiting North Stradbroke Island, just off the coast of Brisbane. This artwork portrays Cai's percetption of a 'last paradise', far from the cares and conflicts of the rest of the world. You might have noticed, like I did, that Cai seems to like the number 99, nine in Chinese numerology represents 'long-lasting', however 99 suggests for the artist something that isn't quite complete, providing a sense of insufficiency and expectation - neither of which I felt this instillation evoked in me.
I have included a collection of photographs I took within this exhibition as well as some works I found inspiring or interesting throughout the two galleries.
The exhibition begins in a room which contains a tree, a panel hangs on the wall encouraging the viewer to re-imagine the tree and draw it recreated into something, my cousin Amy and I decided that it might make a good cityscape so drew this. The atmosphere of this room was relaxing, especially in comparison to the next room we were to encounter.
The room to the left held an artwork named Head On (2006). This artwork was made up of 99 replica wolves which like the early photographer, Étienne-Jules Marey, capture single moments in time and are merged to create a sense of movement and drama in stationary objects. This well-known work was originally created for an exhibition at the Deutsche Guggenheim in 2006 and was largely inspired but Berlin's turbulent history. The Berlin Wall, which divided the city during the Cold War era, is portrayed through the large glass panel.
Head On also makes broader statements about human nature. Gaining power and momentum through unity, the wolves appear heroic as they leap towards the unknown. There is the implication that if we blindly follow ideology, or misdirect our strength towards a collective goal, there can be damaging consequences, as displayed on some of the wolves faces.The resilience of the wolves, hitting the glass and getting back up to try again, could be a stark reminder of human kind's difficulty to learn from mistakes. The glass, being transparent, shows that no all obstacles and challenges that we face are easily foreseen, sometimes when we do hit a problem we need to pull ourselves up again and get on with life.
To the room on the right was a more tranquil space, it held a work called (2013) which, like Head On, also contained 99 replicas of animals, however this time they were animals from all around the world united by one waterhole. Cai Guo-Qiang found inspiration for this installation after visiting North Stradbroke Island, just off the coast of Brisbane. This artwork portrays Cai's percetption of a 'last paradise', far from the cares and conflicts of the rest of the world. You might have noticed, like I did, that Cai seems to like the number 99, nine in Chinese numerology represents 'long-lasting', however 99 suggests for the artist something that isn't quite complete, providing a sense of insufficiency and expectation - neither of which I felt this instillation evoked in me.
I have included a collection of photographs I took within this exhibition as well as some works I found inspiring or interesting throughout the two galleries.