Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang Netflix Movie Review

Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang (2016)

Sky Ladder -

Watch Sky Ladder: The Art of Cai Guo-Qiang on Netflix
Directed by: Kevin Macdonald
Starring: Cai Guo-Qiang, Ian Buruma, Cai Wen-You
Rating:--/TV-MA

Plot
This Netflix documentary tracks the rise of Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang. Known for his spectacular pyrotechnic artwork displays, he tackles his most ambitious project yet, Sky Ladder.

Verdict
Any medium that attempts to redefine art, I appreciate. The art in this is amazing, even Guo-Qiang's earlier pre-gunpowder art is impressive. The gunpowder drawings are amazing in that it actually looks like something. This guy is an artist plain and simple, though the subject matter often outshines the actual documentary. I wish it delved more into his art rather than using his sky ladder project as the connective thread.
It depends.

Review
Cai Guo-Qiang's art work explodes. He's world renowned, but he started out as a traditional artist before experimenting with gun powder. His gun powder drawings actually look like they could be hand sketched.

He's attempted the sky ladder project twice before. Twenty years ago it was canceled due to weather. Fifteen years ago it was canceled again. He wants to build a giant flaming ladder that stretches far into the sky.

His progress as an artist is fascinating, though we don't see much of it. His early exhibits are really creative, like the ink exhibit. We see a few seconds of a "One Night Stand" project that looked like two people in a tent, but that's all we see. It generates questions, but provides no answers. He then shifted into explosive exhibits.

This documentary uses the sky ladder project as a connective thread, but loses focus as it tries to cover his entire life. I liked seeing his older work, but we only see glimpses of it. I wanted to see more or hear someone talk about it. We get neither.

While this movieclaims to be about the sky ladder project, we only see a couple scenes of planning because there really just isn't much to it. The resulting payoff is a striking image against the music, but the aftermath lasts a bit too long.