Chinese fireworks artist Cai Guo-Qiang did something special for his his grandmother’s 100th birthday: he made her a stairway to heaven, and set it on fire.
Guoqiang’s 1,650-foot-high Sky Ladder is made from gunpowder loaded with copper wire, which he ignited from his perch in a flying hot air balloon. The video above is Guo-Qiang’s third, glorious attempt to get his creation up and exploding. The artist made a previous attempt in 1994, but was foiled by strong winds. He tried again in 2001, but Shanghai denied him permits in the wake of the September 11 attacks. At last, the fireworks ladder is finally here. And man, is it beautiful.
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Besides fireworks, Guo-Quaing is just an artist. Click here to see more of his work.
A version of this article originally appeared on The Creators Project Netherlands.
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