When Beauty and Chaos Collide
Exhibition Tactile Poster
Inspired by gunpowder artist Cai GuoQiang
The exhibition aims to showcase the explosive gunpowder works of Cai Guo Qiang. The artist himself aims to show the destructive power of gunpowder in a beautiful way. He shows violence and destruction can be controlled to an extent to create a mysterious beauty produced at the end of his works.
This was a rather experimental project which I tried different materials to achieve the gunpoweder and explosive effect created in Cai GuoQiang's works. I made use of tea leaves, charcoal, coffee powder, crayons and oil pastels to create the various shades and textures in this poster.
The word 强 (Qiang) is placed right in the centre as the focus of the poster. It is not only the initial of the artist himself but it also means powerful. I feel that just this word summaries the works of Cai Guo Qiang as his works have a great strong impact on the public and the use of gunpowder in his works. The poster shows that one can embrace beauty within chaos, which gives off an explosive effect shown by the medium used. It depicts an explosion that is suspended in air and time.
As for the second item, it compliments the poster and is free to be taken by anyone who comes across the poster. Inside the matchbox, it reads ignite beauty with a matchstick inside. It aims to tell people that even though fire or explosives create chaos and destruction, it does not mean that beauty cannot be created in the process.
