2024/11/27 Adult by Chuck

MonteCedro seniors were a lively, active and they came with a lot of questions. As we progressed through the introduction of gunpowder and when watching the video, the Making Art with Gunpowder, I noticed that even with the two benches fully occupied, there was still one person with a walking stick looking for a place to sit. So, I grabbed 5 folding chairs from the front desk and placed them in next Gallery. The Shadow: Pray for Protection, I asked them what they saw and their thoughts. I pointed out the slightly faded black X with the man sitting crossed-legged, the 3 humanoid figures, plane, clock, the self-portrait, dove and the green pigeon footprints and asked if these had any symbolic meanings that Cai wanted to convey.
At the Drawing for Ascending Dragon. Most agreed on a mountain scene. I explained a similar mountain painting was done by post-Impressionist and artist Paul Cezanne. The La Montagne Sainte-Victoire’s site was located near his hometown. Cai wanted to ignite this mountain slope to symbolically fuse the culture symbols of the East (represented by the dragon) and the West, as well as the arts of the modern and ancient worlds. Of course, this was only a painting that never came to reality. One gentleman asked, what’s with the Chinese writing? I’ve seem to have entirely forgotten to mention this and now allows me to interject a dialogue by asking what they knew about Chinese landscape painting. Getting some good responses, I explained that a Chinese landscape paintings would consist a mountain scene with blank or clear areas indicating clouds or streams of water and a brief poem of the artist’s thoughts or reflections. This Drawing for Ascending Dragon with its Chinese writings, Cai may describe the materials needed for the project, the process of how it would take place and maybe a reflection on his thoughts of the desirable outcomes. The blank space in the middle of this painting notes its important role.
They loved the Fetus Movement II’s video. I asked their thoughts … where is Cai with all the smoke surrounding the explosion? A few chuckles reminiscing of the Where’s Waldo phenomenon. Another mentioned its location at a German battlefield (probably a war veteran). A lady shouted it’s an EKG, which drew a round of laughter that most of the group and myself can personally relate to. 
At the Gallery Graphics, they were amazed at the volume of exhibitions that Cai has done. I pointed to the year 2016, the Sky Ladder, an event that Cai wanted his grandmother to see. She played a prominent role in Cao’s success. 
The Palmyra and their thoughts range from ??? to a smokey ancient ruin with the column-like structures. I wished I had printed a picture of Palmyra (‘must’ for my next tour). Palmyra is an UNESCO site in Syria and in 2015, it was seized and partially destroyed by the Islamic State militants. I asked their thoughts if Cao was expressing a bit of history or something else? 
It’s fitting that the Palmyra and The Marking of Return to Darkness were placed in the final gallery, as it allows me to summarize Cao’s thoughts on gunpowder, artificial intelligence, the uncontrollable/unpredictable events of the past, present & future.