Sunflower Seeds

Ai WeiWie’s Sunflower Seeds exhibition at the Tate Modern in2011 is an interesting example of an artist working conceptually while others manufacture his work.  His commissioned installation at the Tate consists of over one hundred million hand crafted, porcelain sunflower seeds covering the museum floor in a flat landscape of gravel.  The sheer size of this effort is reflected in the two and a half years it took 1,600 workers to finish this astonishing amount of work.  The amount of time and effort needed to create these one hundred million unique, porcelain sunflower seed replicas seems to necessitate the artists use of others to create this work. However, this installation, among other things, is also commenting on the “made in China” phenomenon, highlighting the issue of a complex global economy, represented poetically by this small ocean of sunflower seeds. The methods used to make this mammoth proportion of husks, was a modified version of traditional porcelain manufacturing techniques. According to the Guardian, the employment of the 1600 workers saved a Chinese town from bankruptcy. This was a town that at one time made porcelain for the imperial courts. The material used, porcelain, has been one of China’s largest exports historically while also having a strong traditional connection to China’s old power structures and the history of its art. The process in which this installation was manufactured is essential the final reading of the piece.