Cai Guo-Qiang: The Ninth Wave Power Station of Art, Shanghai August 8 - October 26, 2014 Role: project and on-site assistant Cai Guo-Qiang: The Ninth Wave is an ambitious, large-scale solo exhibition that occupied the entire monumental spaces of the Power Station of Art (PSA), a former power station in Shanghai. The exhibition addresses urgent environmental and ecological issues, highlighting the existential threats they pose to humanity—as evidenced by the severe smog and the incident of 16,000 dead pigs floating down the Huangpu River the previous year. The artist also draws on recurring themes from traditional Chinese aesthetics and philosophy, including humanity’s yearning for a return to a primordial landscape and a spiritual homeland. The centerpiece of the exhibition, The Ninth Wave, features a fishing boat from Cai Guo-Qiang’s hometown of Quanzhou, carrying 99 fabricated animals in various states of decline. This boat sailed along the Huangpu River, passing the Bund as an art intervention on July 17, before ultimately "landing" in PSA's Great Hall, where it was transformed into an indoor installation. Another highlight of the exhibition, The Bund Without Us, is a monumental 27-meter-long gunpowder drawing that reimagines Shanghai’s cityscape devoid of people, overtaken by nature. This artwork was created on-site with the participation of volunteers from local communities.