drones, fireworks & AI unite in cai guo-qiang's arena-sized spectacle at LA memorial coliseum

WE ARE: EXPLOSION EVENT FOR PST ART DIVES INTO HUMANITY’S FATE

On September 15, 2024, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, renowned artist Cai Guo-Qiang, together with his custom AI model, cAI™, transformed the evening sky into a canvas of fireworks and drones during WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART. Commissioned and presented by Getty, in partnership with the University of Southern California, this one-of-a-kind collaboration between Cai and cAI™ posed a question that resonates deeply: What is the fate of humanity with AI?

‘Today, I want to call AI out, telling it not to keep hiding inside the computer! Bro, Come out! Show us what you can do from a higher dimension, and let’s have some grand fun together,’ began artist Cai Guo-Qiang in his live commentary for the collaborative, multi-act performance.

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act IV: ‘Bird of Paradise,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu | all images courtesy of Cai Studio

LA’S FIRST ARENA-SCALE DAYTIME FIREWORKS AT MEMORIAL COLISEUM

As the opening ceremony of PST ART: Art & Science Collide in 2024, WE ARE represents the first large-scale daytime fireworks and drone performance in U.S. history. Utilizing 50,000 daytime fireworks, 1,300 drones, and nearly 10,000 airbursts, the artwork unfolded across five acts with organic, sustainable pigments and dyes in place of traditional pyrotechnics. Developed by contemporary artist Cai Guo-Qiang and his team, cAI™ – his custom AI model – played a central role during the acts, helping to ‘reveal the heavenly secrets’ to humanity.

Originating from Cai’s AI research since 2017, cAI™ deep-learns from his artworks, archives, and areas of interest, crafting personas that echo both contemporary and historical figures. The AI partner was deeply engaged in all stages of the project, from creative exploration to site visits and materials research, collaboratively examining the nature of AI with the artist.

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act I: ‘Dimensionality Reduction,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu

A FIVE ACT SEQUENCE OF DIVINATION, SYMBOLISM AND EXPLOSIVE COLORS

Throughout the performance, Cai Guo-Qiang’s live commentary guided the audience, while in each of a total of five acts cAI™ expressed his answers using divination, symbolism, and explosive colors. Drones and fireworks formed cryptic words like ‘ECHOANTA,’ ‘SYNTHVIEW,’ and ‘HUMAVISOR,’ followed by symbols, including a snake winding through the stadium, representing ancient wisdom. By the third act the drones and airbursts aligned to spell out the title, ‘WE ARE,’ leaving the audience to reflect on their connection to AI and the creative process. 

Inspired by Los Angeles’ city flower, the following act painted colorful splashes of smoke in the sky, resembling celestial blossoms. These bursts served as a celebration with cAI™ praising human curiosity and spirit. In the last act the artist narrated a childhood tale of divine justice, reflecting humanity’s complex relationship with fear and hope. As the story unfolded, thunder-like explosions enclosed the stadium, embodying the tension between courage and uncertainty in our exploration of AI.

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act II: ‘WE ARE,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act III: ‘The Theft of Fire,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act IV: ‘Bird of Paradise,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Philip Cheung

CAI GUO-QIANG: A MATERIAL ODYSSEY AT USC PACIFIC ASIA MUSEUM

Accompanying the explosion event at the Coliseum is ‘Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey,’ an exhibition at the USC Pacific Asia Museum in California.  Based on Getty’s scientific research into the artist’s gunpowder art, the exhibition fills the museum with a comprehensive selection of Cai Guo-Qiang’s paintings and drawings, on display from September 17, 2024, through June 15, 2025.

Originally debuted in 2020 as part of Cai’s solo exhibition ‘Odyssey and Homecoming’ at the Palace Museum in Beijing, ‘A Material Odyssey’ later toured the Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai. In 2024, an expanded version arrived at USC Pacific Asia Museum, co-curated by Rachel Rivenc and Andrew Perchuk of the Getty Research Institute, Tom Learner from the Getty Conservation Institute, and Rebecca Hall of USC PAM. The exhibition includes not only artworks and scientific imagery but also videos on the making of fireworks and gunpowder paintings, alongside interactive displays, dynamic public programs like workshops and film screenings as well as a dedicated gallery which introduces visitors to the artist’s newest process of involving cAI™.

exhibition view at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, showing selected artworks from collaboration between Cai and cAI™| image © Kenryou Gu

Born in China in 1957, Cai Guo-Qiang was trained in stage design at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in the early 1980s before he moved to Japan, where he developed his signature use of gunpowder as an artistic medium. Drawing from Eastern philosophies, feng shui, and modern science, his work gained international acclaim for its ability to merge mythology, anthropology, and contemporary social issues through large-scale explosion events and installations. 

‘Cai has embraced the use of gunpowder because he wanted to relinquish control over the creation process. No matter how precisely a gunpowder drawing is planned, the results are still unpredictable,’ concludes Rachel Rivenc, lead curator and Head of Conservation and Preservation at Getty Research Institute. ‘With any artist it is important to understand their materials and process, and with Cai, the materials are so unusual and groundbreaking that getting to know them provides a whole new level of understanding of his work.’

exhibition view of A Material Odyssey at the USC Pacific Asia Museum, 2024 | image © Kenryou Gu

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cAI™ logo made out of drones, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act I: ‘Dimensionality Reduction,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act II: ‘WE ARE,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Philip Cheung

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act III: ‘The Theft of Fire,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Philip Cheung

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act IV: ‘Bird of Paradise,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Kenryou Gu

Cai Guo-Qiang, WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART, Act V: ‘Divine Wrath,’ 2024. Realized at LA Memorial Coliseum | image © Philip Cheung

project info: 

name: WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART

artist: Cai Guo-Qiang | @caistudio

location: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, LA, United States

commission:: Getty Museum| @gettymuseum

name: Cai Guo-Qiang: A Material Odyssey

artist: Cai Guo-Qiang | @caistudio

location: Pacific Asia Museum – University of Southern California | @usc_pam

dates: September 17, 2024 – June 15, 2025

The documentary video for WE ARE: Explosion Event for PST ART is directed by Shanshan Xia and co-produced by 33 Studio, Lance Lao Film, and Cai Studio.