When he is not lighting gun powder on rice paper or suspending a set of nine automobiles from the ceiling of the Guggenheim museum in New York city, Chinese contemporary artist Cai Guo-qiang will be preparing for his highest profile art event yet at the Beijing Olympic Games on August 8.  As part of CNN's Olympics 2008 coverage, this weekend's TALK ASIA travels to Beijing where host Anjali Rao speaks to the man behind the planned fireworks displays for the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.  Cai tells Rao about some of the artistic elements involved in the much anticipated fireworks display. 

Cai's appointment as Director of Visual and Special Effects for the Olympics' opening and closing ceremonies has raised eyebrows in China where his work previously stirred controversy. Exact details of the opening ceremony remains secret but Cai gives viewers a sneak preview: "...we've adopted some high-tech approaches during the performance. So this time, some of the fireworks won't be just linear curves moving in the sky. They'll be very vivid images shining in the air with meanings behind them."  Cai also shares his anxiety and excitement over the big night: "Of course I feel nervous. But I'm also feeling this overwhelming excitement, you know, I can't wait to see what a night it would be, especially when you're in charge of something as unpredictable as fireworks, which is not something you can rehearse with over and over again like props or costume."  

He also provides a different perspective to the air pollution concerns in Beijing: "There is certain beauty to little fogginess. There's a little bit of mystery." before reassuring audiences: "In August, we'll have beautiful two to three weeks for the world obviously."

Hailed an old master of blast art, Cai analyses his interest in explosives and gun powder: "I am a bit cowardly and very cautious, so perhaps in my art, there are attempts to overcome that with gun powders. Explosions, gun powder, the number one enemy is myself." Cai's reputation is also shaped by attention-grabbing installations such as the one at New York's Guggenheim museum and it is not difficult to symbolically find why ‘boats' appear in many of his exhibits.  Born in Quanzhou, a port in Fujian province, China and having travelled round the world, Cai explains: "I think it is quite symbolic of my life. I feel like I am also a boat floating endlessly in a big world."

Influenced by his upbringing in a socialist country, Cai is aware of how his work is perceived in his native country: "I like to think that my work is both for the elite as well as the populous." While some of his art has been banned in China, Cai is optimistic that creative freedom under the state censorship exists: "I feel the open mindedness of the Chinese government has really exceeded my expectations, especially their global vision and their respect for artists."

TALK ASIA also follows the artist to his work space where Cai demonstrates his exploding art.

For more program information on TALK ASIA visit www.cnn.com/talkasia.  

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