Tate Modern Museum

Before reading any of the signs, I leaned over the railing at the Tate Modern Museum and looked down to the floor below and wondered why people were sitting and standing and examining and taking pictures around what appeared to be an enormous gray area rug.

There had to be more to it.

And of course there was.

Upon closer inspection (after heading down a flight of stairs), I saw that it was a ‘carpet’ of seeds.

100 million sunflower seeds.

And they were all individually crafted by hand in China.

Each seed is porcelain.

Next to the exhibit, a continuously running film shows how the artist Ai Weiwei, commissioned over 1600 workers in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen to make the seeds. The process started in the mines and later the molds were filled, then the ‘seeds’ were popped out and inspected. Each and every seed was painted with 3-5 brush strokes. Amazing.

Last month visitors to the museum were encouraged to walk across and roll in the work “to experience and contemplate the essence of Ai Weiwei’s comment on mass consumption, Chinese industry, famine and collective work”.

Now there are posted signs to stay off the seeds due to health concerns over the dust that was created.

Just looking at the enormity of the project is compelling (although it would have been wild to roll around in the exhibit).

In addition to the Sunflower Seeds exhibit, there are floors of contemporary art housed at the Tate featuring photographs, sculptures, and paintings – here are some examples: