calendario eventi  :: 

X

11/10/2010

Ai Weiwei

Tate Modern, London

curated by Juliet Bingham

Ai Weiwei, one of China’s leading Conceptual artists and an outspoken cultural and social commentator, has undertaken the eleventh commission in The Unilever Series.

Sunflower Seeds is made up of millions of small works, each apparently identical, but actually unique. However realistic they may seem, these life-sized sunflower seed husks are in fact intricately hand-crafted in porcelain. Each seed has been individually sculpted and painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. Far from being industrially produced, they are the effort of hundreds of skilled hands.

Poured into the interior of the Turbine Hall’s vast industrial space, the 100 million seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape. Sunflower Seeds is a sensory and immersive installation, which we can touch, walk on and listen to as the seeds shift under our feet. The casual act of walking on the work’s surface contrasts with the immense effort of production and the precious nature of the material. Porcelain is almost synonymous with China and, to make this work, Ai Weiwei has manipulated traditional methods of crafting what has historically been one of China’s most prized exports. Sunflower Seeds invites us to look more closely at the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon and the geo-politics of cultural and economic exchange today.

Interpretation Text

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds challenges our first impressions: what you see is not what you see, and what you see is not what it means. The sculptural installation is made up of what appear to be millions of sunflower seed husks, apparently identical but actually unique. Although they look realistic, each seed is made out of porcelain. And far from being industrially produced, 'readymade' or found objects, they have been intricately hand-crafted by hundreds of skilled artisans. Poured into the interior of the Turbine Hall's vast industrial space, the seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape. The casual act of walking on its surface contrasts with the precious nature of the material, the effort of production and the narrative and personal content that make this work a powerful commentary on the human condition.

One of China's leading Conceptual artists, Ai is known for his social or performance-based interventions as well as object-based artworks. Citing Marcel Duchamp, he refers to himself as a 'readymade', merging his life and art in order to advocate both the freedoms and responsibilities of individuals. 'From a very young age I started to sense that an individual has to set an example in society', he has said. 'Your own acts and behaviour tell the world who you are and at the same time what kind of society you think it should be.' As material for his art, he draws upon the society and politics of contemporary China as well as cultural artefacts such as ancient Neolithic vases and traditional Chinese furniture, whose function and perceived value he challenges and subverts.

Sunflower Seeds is the latest of a number of works that Ai has made using porcelain, one of China's most prized exports. These have included replicas of vases in the style of various dynasties, dresses, pillars, oil spills and watermelons. Like those previous works, the sunflower seeds have all been produced in the city of Jingdezhen, which is famed for its production of Imperial porcelain. Each ceramic seed was individually hand-sculpted and hand-painted by specialists working in small-scale workshops. This combination of mass production and traditional craftsmanship invites us to look more closely at the 'Made in China' phenomenon and the geopolitics of cultural and economic exchange today.

For Ai, sunflower seeds – a common street snack shared by friends – carry personal associations with Mao Zedong's brutal Cultural Revolution (1966-76). While individuals were stripped of personal freedom, propaganda images depicted Chairman Mao as the sun and the mass of people as sunflowers turning towards him. Yet Ai remembers the sharing of sunflower seeds as a gesture of human compassion, providing a space for pleasure, friendship and kindness during a time of extreme poverty, repression and uncertainty.

Sunflower Seeds is a sensory and immersive installation, which we can touch, walk on and listen to as the seeds shift beneath our feet. To touch one piece is to interact with the whole, a poignant commentary on the relationship between the individual and the masses. There are over one hundred million seeds, five times the number of Beijing's population and nearly a quarter of China's internet users. The work seems to pose numerous questions. What does it mean to be an individual in today's society? Are we insignificant or powerless unless we act together? What do our increasing desires, materialism and number mean for society, the environment and the future?

Ai Weiwei was born in 1957 in Beijing, China, where he lives and works.

The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei Sunflower Seeds is curated by Juliet Bingham, Curator, Tate Modern, supported by Kasia Redzisz, Assistant Curator, Tate Modern.

Image: The Unilever Series: Ai Weiwei. Sunflower Seeds 2010. Photocredit: Tate Photography © Ai Weiwei

For further information contact Daisy Mallabar/Bomi Odufunade, Tate Press Office, Millbank, London SW1P 4RG Call 020 7887 8731/4942, Email pressoffice@tate.org.uk

Tate Modern
Bankside - London SE1 9TG
Sunday - Thursday 10-18
Friday - Saturday 10-22
Admission is free

stampa

permanent link