CAI GUO-QIANG

Encounter with the Unknown: Cosmos Project for Mexico | Cai Guo-Qiang

On November 8, against the Great Pyramid of Cholula and Our Lady of Remedies Church in San Pedro Cholula, Mexico, contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang realized the explosion project alongside five maestro pyrotechnician families, using traditional Mexican firework techniques.

The project includes five castillos, constructed by the local pyrotechnic families according to Cai’s creative design, as well as the explosion event Steps of a Lost Pyramid, which consists of a 50-meter-tall set of steps. At sunset, over the course of about 30 minutes, these works were lit in succession against the backdrop of the Great Pyramid of Cholula, overlooking the Popocatépetl volcano.

Encounter with the Unknown: Cosmos Project for Mexico recounts the story of conflict and integration between the indigenous people and the Spaniards in Mexico. It pays tribute to the native people of this land and to the ancient civilization of Mexico.

At the instant of ignition, we return the land to the people of Mexico, and to the modest cosmology that they worshipped. The project is an expression of our respect and humility as modern people to the ancients, and a demonstration of our yearning and anxiety toward encounters with unknown worlds.

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