as the eleventh commission in the tate modern's unilever series, chinese conceptual artist ai weiwei
has filled the museum's turbine hall with millions of life-sized sunflower seed husks made out of
porcelain. the collective effort of a number of specialists from jingdezhen, china, the hand-crafted
seeds were individually formed and painted. the installation encourages visitors to touch and walk
on the carpet of tiny replicates.
ai weiwei has manipulated the traditional methods of crafting porcelain, which has historically been
considered to be one of china's most prized exports, to explore the 'made in china' phenomenon and
the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today.
See more images HERE
4 comments:
I saw these images a couple of days ago! I would love to see this installation. The texture of all those loose "seeds" looks very satisfying.
(Although I have to admit, I'd be tempted to sneak one of those seeds into my pocket.)
This looks overwhelming! For a glimpse at the entire Unilever series, click on the link below....
http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/unileverseries/
I saw a news report this weekend about the installation and the fact that it's putting out a lot of dust. In fact, the museum is worried it may have to close the exhibition as a result of the heavy dust and possible problems it may cause visitors.
Update: 11/03/10
"Ai Wei Wei, the controversial Chinese artist whose Sunflower Seeds is currently being shown at the Tate Modern's turbine hall, has once again fallen foul of the Chinese authorities who have ordered the demolition of his new £750,000 studio in Shanghai." See full story: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8105176/Controversial-Chinese-artist-ordered-to-demolish-studio.html
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