Drawing “Canvas on the moon” before showing Cai’s version. Ask students “what is the difference between your drawing and Cai’s artwork?”
For piramid art, I split students in “like the art group” and “not like the art group” then discuss why they like or dislike. They came up with many reasons.
Author: eikokubota
2025/02/14 High School, Adult by Annette
I had a picture of a sand mandala so we could talk about what it represented (the video goes too fast):
means “circle”
spiritual symbol of universe
guide for meditation and the path to enlightment
Then we talked about the similarities between the actual sand mandala and Cai’s:
use of traditional/non traditional materials
customary destruction after completion
metaphor for impermanence
compared it to his other works
Kids gave thoughtful responses
2025/02/14 High School by Annette
High school students are used to dealing with “primary sources” so I thought it is a good idea to introduce some of Cai’s own words into the tour:
INVISIBLE POPPY
“Maybe my work, sometimes, is like the poppy flower. It’s very beautiful, yet because of circumstances, it also represents a poison to society.”
What did he mean?
“Gunpowder has always been used for human destruction. But Cai creates beautiful drawings for visual pleasure. He sed the poppy flower as a symbol in his work. The poppy is a beautiful flower to look at, but it can also remind one of the drug trade that is destructive for mankind. Here, the appearance of the flower is nice, but something sinister lurks in the background.”
This picture also lends itself to the question:
Why does Cai call his work paintings?
color, line, positive/negative space, etc.
MONTAGNE SAINTE-VICTORE
“Dragons have symbolized the power of nature on earth and in the universe. They are also an incarnation of the dreams of humans to fly freely through the skies and oceans beyond physical limitations. Now, the fire dragon ascends higher in the sky from the rock slope rising from the earth as an undulation of a dragon, carrying the hope of contact between humans and minds beyond the earth. In addition, it represents an action of the universal spirit of humans seeking a return to the embrace of the universe.”
NON- BRAND
Cai referred to some of the modernist artists (ie Rothko) as developing distinctive “brands” that gained them recognition and in doing so, became commodities.
How would you describe Rothko’s brand?
What other popular figures in our culture have developed brands?
In response Cai created a new technique to sandwich gunpowder (his “brand”) between a sheet of glass and a mirror. He says, “I used mirrors and glass to create a few large-scale iconic pieces. I deliberately placed their “brand” (referring to another artist) onto them and then used gunpowder to explode them. Actually, gunpowder has become a brand of mine.”
He titled his works “Non-Brand”
2025/02/13 6-8 Grade, High School
When Lonnie told me I had 2 minutes left, I stopped my tour and asked these 3 questions in conclusion:
What are your impressions of his artist?
What do you find most interesting?
If you could meet him and ask him a question, what would it be?
I really dislike the question, “Did you like the tour?”. It is a yes/no question with a predetermined, loaded answer. What is the person supposed to answer? It’s like fishing for complements.
2025/0213 K-5 Grade by Annette
You can stop a tour at any point and summarize by asking these 2 questions:
What did you find the most interesting?
If you could meet him and ask him a question, what would it be?
2024/12/06 3-5Grade by Fran
Addendum: I forgot to mention one of the most rewarding moments of the tour. After the activity with Canvas to the Moon, I asked the students if they had noticed something odd on the “moon/eye.” They hadn’t. I pointed out the orange “dot” on the image and asked if they had any idea what it might be? One student looked intently at the spot, and I saw her mind mulling it over. Finally, she offered that it may be a volcano. I said, “Hmmm, a volcano.” She continued, “Perhaps it was a volcano exploding on earth.” She indicated that it may be like the volcano they had seen earlier (Ascending Dragon) and that since we were viewing from the moon, perhaps Cai was right in thinking that one could see an explosion on earth from the moon.
2024/12/4 High School by Kathy
– Used a laser pointer – passed it from student to student as they pointed out things and used it myself to show things.
– Had them carry clipboards and pencils from the beginning – came in handy whenever they would not talk.
– Used slips of paper with each slip having an open-ended question. Folded the slips into fourths so they could not see the questions. Working as individuals or in pairs, they chose a question and shared their answers with the group.
– Encouraged them to do a group photo where they were all reflected in the mirror of Canvas on the Moon.
Figure out how to deal with a group where no one is willing to talk – including to each other.
2024/12/6 3-5Grade by Fran
Today, I toured with a group of eager and delightful third-grade students. Before beginning our tour, I handed out clipboards with stapled sheets of paper (one lined and two plain) and pencils. After explaining the norms for time together, we proceeded to Gallery 5 with the instructions that they were to observe the objects alone and jot down any questions, thoughts, or wonderings they had about the works in the gallery. After about 4 minutes we gathered together to share the observations. Student questions varied from “Who did these?” to “I see lots of shapes and dirt”. Good conversation followed.
After sharing that Cai’s work was part artistic and part science and discussing some of the science they were doing in class, we talked about the Pyramid piece in terms of shapes, purpose, and why he may have written all over some of the work. I then asked them to draw a peanut butter sandwich on one of the blank sheets (2 minutes). I then asked them to describe on their paper the steps to making that sandwich (2 minutes). Some shared their steps. I explained that the writing on the work in the gallery was, in fact, Cai’s thought processes about his work.
As we continued through the galleries, they took notes of things of interest and asked appropriate and probing questions. At the timeline of Cai’s work, the noted that Sky Ladder was made around the time of their births and wanted to know what it was. Explain the premise of Sky Ladder, some noticed that it was available on Netflix and wrote that down.
At Canvas of the Moon, I asked the students to “jump into the picture” and write down what they saw, heard, and smelled (2 minutes). They then shared, and I had them close their eyes and describe where they were. This time, no one mentioned a “cat”!
Visited the Mandala which, in some ways, brought a lot of concepts together for them.
This was a small group so we only had one tour at 10 AM.
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.
2024/11/22 K-2Grade by Fran
My experience was the tale of two tours! The first group was engaged, knowledgeable, curious, and full of ideas, which they were eager to share. The second group was hungry! The timing on this tour worked well. We began promptly at 10:00 and were able to make it through efficiently.
These were second-grade students.
Our discussions were engaging with both groups. They all seemed very interested in the science/art connection.
The first group was fascinated by how the explosions affected the substrates. The second group, not so much. They seemed to prefer wandering so I let them explore when possible. This group(2) was particularly fascinated by the stencils. I did a quick visual by tearing a hole in a piece of paper and using a pencil to shade in the hole, producing a filled-in circle on the blank paper substrate.
I think with the second group, I might have used Bob’s idea of giving them pencil/paper early on. (I’m not sure they were ready for that amount of independence.) Before beginning, we did some movement in the garden but it didn’t help. There was little to be done once it was announced that they were hungry.li
Both groups were fascinated by Palmyra, so I’d like to learn more about the work and how to tour it with primary students. Any ideas would be appreciated.
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