This artwork was put into the Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern museum in London. It consists of around 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds, each handmade by more than 1,600 artisans in the “Porcelain Capital” of Jingdzhen, China, which altogether weigh in at around 150 tons. The porcelain seeds are especially realistic, with fine details that make them very closely resemble real sunflower seeds. They are spread out across the floor of the building in a neat rectangle.
The use of sunflower seeds has a variety of purposes, according to the artist. For one, they evoke warm childhood memories of eating them with friends and family as a treat, which the poor of China often did. Additionally, they further reach into the artist’s childhood life by commenting on popular political imagery that was common when he was a child. Communist leader Mao Zedong was often depicted as the sun and the PRC’s citizens as sunflowers, who turned towards and followed their leader. Moreso, due to the sheer magnitude and expanse of the installation, along with its uniformity, the piece comments on the conformity and censorship which is prevalent in Chinese culture, as the individual seed is lost among the millions. Even international commerce is discussed with Ai Weiwei’s art. This piece comments on the importance of porcelain to Chinese history, in addition to the use of Chinese labor which has essentially become vital to the world’s economy due to its cheap and fast nature. It asks viewers to attempt to realize how consumerism affects people around the world.
As aforementioned, this piece comments on Communism. Communist China existed when Ai Weiwei was a child, so many memories of this regime, along with various leaders, policies, and most likely difficult times, were kept by him. The sunflower archetype was prevalent during Communist China, as citizens had to strictly follow the government/leader, just as Sunflowers follow the sun. Ai Weiwei has been seen to frequently make art which addresses human rights as well.
Works Cited
“Ai Weiwei, Kui Hua Zi (Sunflower Seeds).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/global-contemporary/a/sseeds-ai-weiwei.
Tate. “The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds – Exhibition at Tate Modern.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/unilever-series/unilever-series-ai-weiwei-sunflower-seeds.