Cai Guo-Qiang has literally exploded the accepted parameters of art making in our time. Drawing freely from–among others–ancient mythology, Taoist cosmology, extraterrestrial observations, gunpowder-related technology, and methods of terrorist violence, Cai’s art is a form of social energy, constantly mutable, linking what he refers to as “the seen and unseen worlds.”

Cai’s new exhibition, “I Want to Believe,” is on display at the Guggenheim now through May 28. The exhibition, designed by the artist as a site-specific installation, presents art as a process that unfolds in time and space, dealing with ideas of transformation, expenditure of materials, and connectivity.

You can watch a preview of the exhibit at SundayArts online.

Elsewhere, you can learn more about Cai and his work–including slideshows of past exhibits and a interviews with the artist himself–at Art:21.

Cai’s work is also featured in a Wide Angle photo essay, “Flying Down to Kabul,” that discusses politically motivated art.