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CAI GUO-QIANG AT MASS MOCA

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NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Mass MoCA’s building is now exhibiting a dramatic, multipart installation by the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang through October. Known for his vast orchestrations of gunpowder projects and large, theatrical sculptures, Cai Guo-Qiang has created for Mass MoCA an expansive installation titled “Inopportune.”

The centerpiece of “Inopportune,” titled “Inopportune: Stage 1,” features a dazzling array of colored light pulsing from hundreds of long transparent rods. These rods radiate outward from nine identical white cars that tumble in an arc through the gallery, suspended in midair as if by stop-action. Gradually the viewer perceives that an explosive event is unfolding in nine frozen frames. At the end of the sequence the car lands safely, unaltered, implying a closed and repeatable circuit.

“Inopportune: Stage 2,” shows nine realistic tigers crouching, pouncing and leaping through the air as hundreds of bamboo arrows pierce the tigers, appearing to lift them skyward. The tiger imagery refers to a famous Thirteenth Century Chinese story of Wu Song, a bandit who saved a village from a man-eating tiger that terrorized it and became the paragon of heroism and bravery in China.

Cai Guo-Qiang’s piece “Illusion” seems to envelope the viewer. A phantom car bristling with fireworks floats like a ghost through Times Square at night.

Lastly, on the mezzanine overlooking the suspended cars is an expansive drawing — nearly 20 feet long and 12 feet high — hanging from the back wall. The enormous ellipse that dominates the center of the drawing was made by exploding gunpowder on the surface of the heavy paper and includes a shadowy reference to the nine exploding cars.

Mass MoCA is on a restored Nineteenth Century factory campus at 1040 Mass MoCA Way. The galleries are open 11 am to 5 pm every day except Tuesday, with extended hours in July and August of 10 am to 6 pm every day. For information, 413-662-2111 or www.massmoca.org.