I’ve been trying to make the best out of the time I’m spending in Houston by trying to find new, random things to do. Cai Guo-Qiang, a Chinese contemporary artist was commissioned by the Houston Museum of Fine Arts to create a gunpowder drawing installation for the new Ting Tsung and Wei Fong Chao Arts of China Gallery. I signed up as a volunteer to help create this piece of art. (I attached a description I received on the volunteer application for the gunpowder drawing process/how it involves volunteers at the bottom)*. I wouldn’t be able to submit anything to an art museum so this is my only in to be part of a permanent art installation. Thanks, Patrick for sending this opportunity my way
.
Today I drove to Austin for a long weekend. I drove past my old duplex and I felt a little sad as I passed by, knowing that I no longer lived there.
Katherine and her roommate Annabelle have been sweet enough to let me stay in their new apartment. I got to Austin a bit before Katherine got out of rowing practice so I went for a run around Town Lake. In Nica, “running” meant going barefoot back and forth across a small patch of beach, so it’s nice to run on a trail again. It was hard to motivate myself to run in Houston, but went on a 5 mile run and it feels so good.
Now that Katherine and I are both “grown up” and have separate lives, it’s so nice to visit and see how she lives. She and Annabelle did a fantastic job decorating their apartment – way better than I ever did in college (and arguably even now..). Katherine’s a crafting queen and their space feels warm and inviting. I definitely taking a few ideas from her and hopefully implementing them in my own apartment. I don’t have a ton of faith in my new roommate’s interior decorating (I’m not good at it either) but I want to make somewhat more of an effort this time. Ahhh I love Austin & it feels more like home; I might just stay for an entire week.
*Mr. Cai’s artwork, called a “gunpowder drawing”, will be comprised of a 51 meter (167 foot) series of panels, each
panel 3.05 meters by 1.21 meters (10 ft. x 4 ft.) in dimension. These panels will be covered by Chinese calligraphy
paper. Mr. Cai and his staff will then make a drawing on it. When the drawing is finished, the panels will be spread
out on butcher paper over a large floor section of an empty warehouse. Over the course of approximately 3 days,
Mr. Cai, his staff and selected volunteers will adjust the drawing, complete a cardboard stencil that mirrors the
drawing, cut it out, and lay it over the paper. On the “ignition day”, Mr. Cai will mix black powder with pigment
and other non-combustible materials, sprinkle it over the stencils, and then ignite the powder. The resulting blast
mark will create a series of images on the paper. After the detonation, the group of panels will be taken out of the
warehouse and hung in the museum’s gallery.