Art that's truly explosive

Chinese people have used fireworks to celebrate festive occasions for centuries, but artist Cai Guoqiang uses pyrotechnics as a medium to convey contemporary art concepts.

His best-known work is Footprints of History, the celebratory fireworks project that lit up the skies above the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games' opening ceremony. The work featured 29 footstep-shaped sparkles along Beijing's north-south meridian that symbolized the arrival of the 29th Olympic Games.

Cai and his team of about 600 spent two years preparing for the display, which lasted about a minute.