Flower made of fireworks will be displayed at Art Museum

At dusk on Friday evening, the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum will light up with an image of a flower made from fire. But look sharp – it will last for exactly one minute.

The pyrotechnic display will be in memory of the Museum’s late director.

At dusk on Friday evening, the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum will light up with an image of a flower made from fire. But look sharp – it will last for exactly one minute.

The pyrotechnic display will be in memory of the Museum’s late director.

Listen:
[audio: 091210pcpowder.mp3]

Cai Guo-Qiang is a Chinese artist whose medium is gunpowder. He was invited by Art Museum director Anne d’Harnoncourt to create an exhibit. In 2008 she suddenly passed away. The work – called “Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project” – is one part of a multi-site exhibit about memory and the passage of time.

In 2008 Cai designed the spectacular fireworks display for the Olympics in Beijing. Here he has designed a flower-shaped explosion on the steps of the Museum.

Guo-Qiang: The first section with be a gunpowder fuse – last four seconds, it will start at the center and move to periphery. The second section will be made of miniature flares sending white sparklers, make a white flower for 50 seconds. Last section will be made with explosion that sounds like thunder. It will be a continuous blow off for five seconds.

The explosion will take place Friday afternoon, around 4:15 p.m. Other, more stable works are on display at the Art Museum and the Fabric Workshop and Museum on Arch Street.