I visited this event for two days and saw a massive white disk at the middle of the racecourse on the first day. This is Chinese artist Cai Guo Qiang’s work “Project for Obihiro: Sky Bound UFO and Shrine.” He is known as an artist who does big projects with gunpowder. A UFO-shaped airship with a diameter of 30 x 10 meters was a truly unique existence. It was shame that I could not see it but the UFO is tied to the shrine and the shrine is pulled up into the sky as the UFO rises up.

Project for Obihiro: Sky Bound UFO and Shrine, Cai Guo Qiang (China)

On the second day, when I was sitting tight in front of the shrine for a while, which was in a corner of the racecourse, I felt something sacred there. The shrine seemed to keep very close watch on what is happening in this event. There was a square hole in front of the shrine and I found a small Torii (a gateway at the entrance to a Shinto shrine). What do the hole and the Torii mean? I was imagining the scenery that the UFO is getting bigger and the Torii will rise up into the sky.

Project for Obihiro: Sky Bound UFO and Shrine, Cai Guo Qiang (China)

The powdergun drawing and the video of this project were shown in a stable. I quickened my pace to the work, which was at the end of the stable, because it was the first time to see the powdergun drawing. Some parts were burnt hard so I could see a wall that the drawing was hung. Some parts have a subtle gradation of the gunpowder. The patterns which the gunpowder made reminded me of the ceiling that I was looking at when I was small and could not sleep. The patterns of the ceiling changed their shapes to someone’s face or birds and the patterns of the powdergun drawing looked similar to them. It’s possible that a chance factor, which nobody can perfectly predict, made this work.

Project for Obihiro: Sky Bound UFO and Shrine, Cai Guo Qiang (China)

The cancellation of this project has been confirmed due to the damage to the balloon by the typhoon and safety concerns. However, the largest powdergun drawing performance is going to be held from 6:30pm on Sunday the 11th of August. Connecting about 3,000 meter-long-fuse to a diameter of 30-meter-dick will create a drawing. Witness the magnificent powdergun drawing, which subjects UFO and the shrine, while sparks come off in all directions.