ai weiwei: sunflower seeds at the tate modern‘sunflower seeds’ by ai weiwei at the tate modern images courtesy the tate modern © ai weiwei

 

 

ai weiwei: sunflower seeds turbine hall, tate modern bankside, london now until 2 may 2011

 

 

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.

 

ai weiwei: sunflower seeds images courtesy the tate modern © ai weiwei

ai weiwei: sunflower seeds at the tate modern aerial view image courtesy the guardian photographer: david levene

 

ai weiwei: sunflower seeds at the tate modern images courtesy the tate modern © ai weiwei