Sunflower Seeds Not For Consumption

Remember this?

When the name “Ai Weiwei” pops up, many would probably have no idea who he is, but when “Bird’s Nest” comes about, I am sure many of you will refer to the 2008 Olympic stadium in Beijing. Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and an architectural designer who co-designed the “Bird’s Nest”. He is a very well known artist in China and after seeing some of his works, I can understand his popularity because his works are really impressive.

Individually & Uniquely Painted

Recently, at the Tate Modern Turbine Hall in London, Ai Weiwei’s exhibition “Sunflower Seeds” was installed. This work consisted of one hundred million porcelain “seeds”! But the number is not as impressive as the fact that each and every seed was painted individually by hand, with the help of 1,600 Chinese artisans. Each seed has its own unique design as well, so therefore there were no exact same seed.

All the seeds were scattered across the hall and visitors were allowed to skip, jump, walk, run, or lay down in these seeds. Visitors were also encouraged to pick up the seeds and let it run through their fingers. Ai Weiwei has a purpose with this exhibition though, he was attempting to portray the mass consumption, Chinese industry, and famine and collective work in China.

Unfortunately, this particular exhibition had to be shut down after less than a week of opening due to the noxious ceramic dust that arose from the seeds.

Ai Weiwei - The Genius Himself (above); Having Fun In the Seeds (bottom)

This is one of his previous works that I also found to be quite impressive.

Working Progress (Fountain of Light)

Check out his other works here.

NY Times Article.