Cai Guo-Qiang, Heritage, 2013

99 animals for Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibition

Encompassing all 3,000 square meters of GOMA’s ground floor is ‘Falling back to earth’, a monumental, immersive exhibition by Cai Guo-Qiang, encompassing both new and recent works reconfigured for the space. Dramatic and explosive artistic explorations define the evolution of his ground-breaking practice, contemplating the complex relationship between humanity and nature through promising both spectacular and meditative installations.

Cai Guo-Qiang, Heritage, 2013

Amongst the Chinese artist’s artwork presented for the first time is ‘Heritage 2013′, a tremendous installation comprising 99 replicas of wild animals situated around the circumference of a water pool. Lowering their heads into the crystal blue lake, the placed species stand on powder white sand and simulate a mass drink from the oblong reservoir filled with 170 tons of water.

Cai Guo-Qiang, Heritage, 2013

Tigers, bears, zebras, giraffes and kangaroos illustrate ‘seemingly a peaceful gathering of predator and prey, the menagerie of heritage conveys an almost reverential solemnity, in a lyrical utopian vision loaded with uncertainty‘ describes Russell Storer, exhibition curator. Influenced by the dramatic landscapes of southeast Queensland, which the artist visited in 2011, the scene references the lakes of Moreton Bay’s Islands.

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