Chinese artist embeds microchips in 'smart fireworks' for explosive art exhibit in Doha [Video]

At the Arab Museum of Modern Art in Doha, Qatar this week, Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang put on his largest "explosion event" of the last three years, utilizing microchip-controlled explosives to form incredible designs and patterns. The video we've embedded of the event is an impressive testament to how a volatile black powder explosion can be controlled and shaped by computer.

Each set of explosions was calculated to paint a different picture. One series of explosions created black smoke clouds that looked like "drops of ink splattered across the sky."

In another, 8,300 shells embedded with computer microchips exploded in a pyramid shape over the desert.

A spectator present at the event on Monday told us this particular explosion also caused an equally impressive blast of heat.

In 2001, Cai began developing a technique to use microcontrollers to more accurately time his explosions. Fireworks are typically ignited by a fuse, and the delay of the explosion is simply determined by the length of that fuse. However, this is an extremely imprecise science due to the variation in fuses and construction of fireworks.

In an interview in Japanese art blog Cool, Cai said "if you use fireworks with built-in microchips, the altitudes and timing of explosions are already calculated. For instance, it is like 2000 people who have tickets get seated exactly in their right seats. I can control the altitude and timing of the explosions of 2000 fireworks. However, there are a good thing and a bad thing about introducing microchips. The good thing is that now I can use the sky as canvas. The bad thing is that they are expensive. I feel pressured in many aspects because huge amount of money is spent on few dozens of seconds of art."

The brief but breathtaking exhibition celebrated the opening of Cai Guo-Qiang's art installation at the Arab Museum of Modern Art which will run until May 26.