on Cai Guo-Giang

i went and saw the Cai Guo-Giang show recently and was highly disappointed. in fact i hated it. not only were the animals poorly made, but the whole concept of the thing reeked of an obviousness that made me think it was Art for spectaculars sake and nothing else. a kind of cheap wow factor that was great if you took the kids - in fact it was in a weird way Art for kids, that would look more at home somewhere else - like Disneyland or a theme park. i wanted to jump in the pond that would've worked better if only one animal was drinking from it.
The wolf piece was marginally more successful but still irritated me due to its poor construction and bland ideas. this environmental art bandwagon can be interesting if its treated with more heart and less shoving down the throat. if it makes non-Art goers go along and see Art and make them aware of whats happening in the world then great, but please do it with a little more integrity, subtlety, and treat people with respect.
The other pieces were 2 trees that were taken from a housing development site - and saved! for people to go and see in a gallery for 15 bucks.  "i'd rather look at a 10x10cm Goya in an empty room", the person i was with said. Indeed - gimme some quiet Art...