{"id":75607,"date":"2025-09-22T22:51:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T05:51:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=75607"},"modified":"2025-09-22T22:51:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T05:51:11","slug":"from-cai-guoqiangs-sky-ladder-rising-dragon-fireworks-to-the-question-of-media-professionalism-and-objectivity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=75607","title":{"rendered":"From Cai Guoqiang\u2019s \u201cSky Ladder: Rising Dragon\u201d Fireworks to the Question of Media Professionalism and Objectivity"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Richard Ren \/ Art Critic, Freelance Writer \/ LAPost<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Cai Guoqiang is an artist I have long admired and respected. His creativity, the impact of his works, and their cultural resonance have already earned him global recognition.<\/span><\/p>\n

On September 19, Cai staged a fireworks performance titled \u201cRising Dragon\u201d<\/em> in the Relong area of Gyantse, Tibet (at an altitude of about 5,500 meters). He named the local mountain \u201cRelong,\u201d and in the space between mountains and fields, he ignited vibrant fireworks that unfolded into a grand, majestic visual spectacle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, the artistic experiment quickly sparked controversy. Some netizens argued that Tibet\u2019s ecological environment is \u201ctoo fragile\u201d and declared the performance would cause \u201cirreversible damage.\u201d Media outlets amplified these criticisms, ultimately forcing the artist and his sponsors to apologize. But does this logic truly hold up?<\/span><\/p>\n

Many reports cited so-called \u201coutdoor enthusiasts with dozens of trips to Tibet\u201d as credible voices. But let\u2019s ask: don\u2019t repeated self-driving tours and flights into Tibet themselves create environmental burdens through exhaust emissions, food transportation, and resource consumption? If we\u2019re going to moralize, then what about the construction of railways, highways, airports, or even the downstream hydropower project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River\u2014announced this July with an investment of 1.2 trillion yuan and five cascade dams? Do these not carry a far deeper ecological impact? Why are such massive projects justified as \u201cnecessary for development,\u201d while a brief fireworks display is branded with \u201coriginal sin\u201d? This selective criticism exposes the double standards in public discourse.<\/span><\/p>\n

I once witnessed one of Cai\u2019s large-scale daytime fireworks in downtown Los Angeles. The smoke temporarily filled the air, but there were no penalties from environmental agencies, nor was there an uproar of condemnation. Instead, the event became part of the city\u2019s public art memory. Clearly, fireworks are not inherently destructive; the key lies in how we choose to interpret them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cai\u2019s art has consistently emphasized a profound dialogue between humanity and nature, between culture and the cosmos. He is not a \u201cpyrotechnician for spectacle,\u201d but an artist who paints with gunpowder and uses the sky as his canvas. To place such an artist on a public trial today is nothing more than an outburst of emotional bias.<\/span><\/p>\n

The media and the public bear a responsibility to evaluate with professionalism and objectivity\u2014not to sensationalize and drag artists into unnecessary \u201cpublic trials.\u201d Even if one disagrees with Cai\u2019s artistic explorations, the discussion should remain rational, not exaggerated beyond measure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Artists are not a dominant class; their only power is their work. Criticism and debate are fair, but reducing them to scapegoats for clicks and traffic is unjust. What should worry us is not the fleeting smoke of fireworks, but the rashness of collective vilification.<\/span><\/p>\n

Art requires sincerity and inclusiveness, not narrow-minded labeling. What we should see in Rising Dragon<\/em> is the cultural imagery and imaginative force it ignited\u2014not allow its meaning to be drowned out by noise. Under the Tibetan sky, what rose that night was not only fireworks, but also cultural confidence and artistic power.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Richard Ren \/ Art Critic,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,9,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts","category-opinion","category-world"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=75607"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75608,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75607\/revisions\/75608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=75607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=75607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=75607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}