Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang: The Internationalization of Art and the Position of the Artist

This is the text of an interview conducted with Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957), who participated in the TransCulture exhibition at the 1995 Venice Biennale. The interview addresses the contexts of locality, China, and East Asia within Cai’s internationally exhibited works.
Cai refers to Eastern philosophy, which takes a macro perspective and sometimes contains contradictions, as “a philosophy that holds a synthetic view” and notes that his projects feature that kind of “synthesis” in which Eastern and Western motifs appear side by side. Rather than viewing East and West as in opposition to one another, he argues that it is important to arrive at a “synthesis” based on their own unique methodologies and question the dominant trend of Western art. Interviewer Takeda Masaaki (b. 1974), critically notes that, in recent years, many works of ethnic and individual art have sought to evince sympathy through the expression of private contexts such as ethnic origins. Cai agrees with this, asserting the importance of closely considering the issues of one’s time while still maintaining a universal sense of values. At the same time, however, Cai states that it is imperative for Japanese contemporary art to consider Japanese identity within the context of the Japanese cultural situation. The two men conclude by touching on the validity of the modernist argument as a foundation for universality, though for Cai, the emphasis on both internationality and nationality is consistent with the attitude of seeking to view seemingly contradictory and opposing sides from a broader perspective that he labels “synthesis.”
Cai is an artist from the People's Republic of China who came to Japan in 1986 to pursue his work before moving to the United States in 1995. He has since then been based in New York. This interview represents a precious record of his thoughts on his time in Japan. It was published in a literary magazine by Takeda, who would later become a professor at the University of Tokyo, while he was a graduate student.

Title

Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang: The Internationalization of Art and the Position of the Artist

Author

Interview by Abe Taiga, Doi Nobuaki, Takeda Masaaki, and Takeda Norihito

First published

1996

Translation

Darryl Jingwen Wee

Editing

Naoki Matsuyama, Takeda Masaaki

Design

Ian Lynam

Theme

Japan in Asia

First Posted Online

2022-10-28

Last modified

2022-10-28

© 2022 Cai Guo-Qiang + Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan

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Citation

Footnote/endnote: "Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang: The Internationalization of Art and the Position of the Artist," trans. Darryl Jingwen Wee, Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan, posted October 28, 2022, artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202217.

Bibliography: "Interview with Cai Guo-Qiang: The Internationalization of Art and the Position of the Artist." Translated by Darryl Jingwen Wee. Bunka-cho Art Platform Japan. Posted October 28, 2022. artplatform.go.jp/readings/R202217.

Original Japanese Edition

“Sai Kokkyō ni Kiku: Geijutsu no kokusaika to Sakka no tachiba” in Sturm, no. 7 (1996), 106–115.

「蔡國強氏に聞く「芸術の国際化と作家の立場」」『STURM』7号（1996年）、106–115頁。

National Diet Library(NDL)

ISBN