Ai WeiWei and the Sunflower Seeds
Ai WeiWei is one of the most well-known artists in the world. His work has garnered the attention of people from all over the world. Ai’s personal history and his art have established him as an iconic, albeit to some controversial, figure in today’s art world. To many young people with a keen interest in art he has become an inspiration to stand up for what is right even if it may cause controversy or be uncomfortable. Ai expresses his criticism of the Chinese government/ history and view of the modern world through his artwork. He does this almost without fear of the repercussions. Ai is as much an activist as he is an artist. Despite threats and harassment from the Chinese government, he can most certainly lay claim to the title of one of the bravest artists the world has ever known. Many of Ai’s artworks receive widespread media attention however it is the Sunflower Seeds that is arguably his best-known work but also one of the most fascinating.
Ai WeiWei was born in 1957 in Beijing, China. His father was a renowned poet, who was critical of the Mao regime. A year after Ai was born his father was accused of being a rightist and the family was exiled to rural villages. There the family stayed for twenty years, only returning from exile to Beijing after the death of Mao in 1976. The Art Story quotes Ai stating that “living conditions were extremely harsh, and education was almost non-existent”. While enrolled at university Ai became involved with in the Beijing art scene and became one of the first members of The Stars art group. This group was known for advocating individualism and freedom of expression within their artwork and activities, which was polar opposite to the views of the Chinese government at the time. In 1979 the group staged an unofficial exhibition next to the National Art Museum in Beijing. The exhibition was shut down, due to the artworks displayed defying the views of the government, which consequently led to protests. Besides being an artist Ai is also known for some of his architectural work, most famously his co-creation of the ‘Bird’s Nest’ stadium in China designed for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Despite never having had any formal education Ai found an architectural firm in 2003 and created several works through this firm. One of the first times the Chinese government became displeased with Ai and his work was in 1999, when Ai became a more well-known figure in China and was asked to represent China at an international contemporary art exhibition. However, during this time Ai co-curated an exhibition in China called ‘F*ck off’ a fact the Chinese government was not thrilled with. This incident was one of the starting points in Ai’s troublesome years with the Chinese Government.
Furthermore, Ai WeiWei is mainly defined as a conceptual artist. In the lectures conceptual art is defined as art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concern. Ai uses his art to express problems occurring in the world but also uses his art as a tool to fight back against forms of oppression. The artworks are purposely meant, at times, to be confronting. For example in Ai’s works, such as Law of the Journey and the refugee life jackets tied to the pillars of Berlin’s Konzerthaus, there is no traditional aesthetic in the form of beauty. It is hard truth and showcases Ai’s political views.
The Sunflower Seeds installation was created as a commissioned as part of the Unilever series by the Tate Modern museum for the Turbine Hall . Ai WeiWei started production of the Sunflower Seeds two and a half years before the opening of the exhibition. The sunflower seeds were created by 1600 Chinese artisans in Jingdezhen, a city known for the production of porcelain objects for thousands of years. Every sunflower seed was individually hand-painted and fired at 1300 degrees making the sunflower seeds unique and unlike any other. In 2010 the 1000 square meter floor of the Turbine Hall was filled with one million unique porcelain sunflower seeds weighing a total of 150 tons and the installation was opened to the public. Over the years, the artwork has been displayed in two different forms with the most famous being the original carpet-like installation at the Tate Turbine Hall. However, Sunflower Seeds is a dynamic, changeable artwork thus it can also be seen, for example, in the shape of a cone of sunflower seeds. As stated in the lectures one of the central characteristics within modernism is that art should be detached from its appearance, with this Ai successfully interprets this central characteristic.
The Sunflower Seeds were created with the intention to reflect and express Ai’s ideas concerning individualism and mass production. Individualism has always been somewhat of a difficult topic in China. The republic the world knows today is descendent from a communist regime thus some of these views and regulations have consciously or unconsciously been passed down not only within politics but also within culture and society. China can be seen as a collectivist society, where uniformity and conformity are highly valued, while the West is often seen as very individualistic. Bingham writes that in Sunflower Seeds “Ai examines the one and the many, the individual and the masses, self and society”. This artwork can be seen as a protest against the collectivist society.
The artwork also symbolizes mass production in China and Ai’s idea that this threatens individualism. The sunflower seeds are individually handcrafted by Chinese artisans which is contradictory to the meaning of the phenomenon known as ‘Made in China’. Objects made with the label ‘Made in China’ are often mass produced and uniform. The sunflower seeds are still ‘Made in China’ however the fact that they were made by artisans and all have individualistic qualities gives new meaning to the phenomenon known as ‘Made in China’. However, the millions of sunflower seeds were still mass produced but not by factory workers performing cheap labor in poor circumstances catering to Western consumerism. Additionally, the sunflower seeds can also showcase how there are artisans in China who do not endorse mass production but instead focus on individual craft. Even though the individual artisans may not all create the same art the artisans are able to come together in strength and leave their own individualistic mark.
Furthermore, in general sunflower seeds are seen as cheap products that exist in mass amounts, similar to the mass production of objects. Through having Chinese artisans handcraft the sunflower seeds the worth of the sunflower seeds rises in monetary value but also how society views sunflower seeds changes. Ai is able to take something seemingly insignificant to many and give it meaning and a purpose in his artistic and activism journey. Clearly, Sunflower Seeds is also meant to change the perception of consumers regarding mass consumerism. Freeland states that despite Tolstoy and Freud being of the opinion that what is expressed in art are feelings and desires Croce, Collingwood, and Langer are of the opinion that “art helps artists express their own emotions in complex ways that were linked to expressing ideas”. Thus another intention of Ai’s regarding the artwork was to express his ideas in relation to the emotions stemming from Ai’s own past experiences. Growing up and being exiled during Mao’s regime sunflower seeds were one of the few luxuries available. During this time, besides the hardships of exile, food was not in large supply. Thus the sharing of sunflower seeds created a feeling of community solidarity. This choice of Ai’s to represent this solidarity within the community can be related back to John Dewey’s idea that “art is the expression of the life of the community”. Even though in a twisted way this luxury Ai was able to enjoy in exile was a direct link to the man and government that had exiled his family in the first place. Many (propaganda) portraits depict Mao with sunflowers facing him, which emphasized that like the sun Mao was an almighty power. The installation at Tate Modern can be interpreted as the planting of unique, individual sunflower seeds in a field to eventually grow and learn to collectively follow the sun as sunflowers are known to do. In this case, the sun are the leaders in power and the seeds and sunflowers are the population. On the Tate Modern website Ai is quoted stating that “it [sunflower seeds] was a common place symbol for The People, the sunflower faces the trajectory of the red sun, so must the masses feel towards their leadership”.
The Chinese Government requires for art to maintain a sense of respect, be representational, and reflect the good lives of ordinary people under government rule. Yet, Ai went and as of today is still going against the government’s wishes. Ai’s lifelong commitment to activism led to him being arrested in April 2011 without a legitimate reason as to why. Ai was imprisoned for 81 days and on release Ai’s passport was confiscated. But Ai had worried about his safety in China long before his arrest, thus Ai had already set up a base for a studio in Berlin. When Ai’s passport was returned in 2015, Ai and his family fled to Germany. This incident is a clear example of oppression by the Chinese government and how society is constructed. When an individual is critical of ‘the system’, is able to escape from the uniformity and conformity, and also create a platform for themselves it is automatically seen as a threat. Hence why Sunflower Seeds also represent Ai’s desire for freedom of thought and the strength to act whatever force may come to oppress these efforts or whatever new threats may emerge. Ai feels it is a responsibility to voice his views. In this his activism can truly be seen. The suggested intended audience of the artwork is the Western hemisphere and China. For the Western hemisphere it becomes clear that Ai wants to make Western society aware of how the mass consumerism affects, not only, individualism but also the lives of Chinese citizens. For China Ai wants to make the country aware of his criticism towards the lack of individualism and freedom of expression within the country. Reflecting on the cognitive theory of art; Freeland writes that art contributes to provide knowledge to the audience. This is clearly something Ai successfully accomplishes in most of his artworks. When the original Tate Modern installation was opened visitors were initially invited to walk on the porcelain sunflower seeds and everything was presumably going well. However, after three days the concerns surrounding inhalation of the dust from the porcelain forced the Tate Modern to forbid visitors from walking on the artwork. Yet, before this was enforced the ability for the visitor to walk on the artwork created contact with the artwork and the consumer. Often artworks are seen from far away, unreachable. With the Sunflower Seeds the art becomes tangible and thus the intentions, ideas, feelings and stories expressed in the artwork becomes more realistic.
Freeland states that “artists use symbols to represent and express feeling, opinions, thoughts, and ideas. Artists communicate to an audience, which in turn must interpret the artworks”. Ai uses the sunflower seeds as a symbol for not only his personal past experiences but also to convey his feelings, opinions, thoughts, and ideas in a more impactful manner. When the consumer realizes what the sunflower seeds truly represent and also realizes that from further away the sunflower seeds may look uniform but upon looking closer are in actuality all unique, an impact is created. For something, in Western society’s eyes, so small and seemingly insignificant cannot possibly represent the fabric of a nation. Ai contradicts this belief.
As mentioned before the visitors of the original installation, who were allowed to walk on the installation, might have unknowingly been given the role of an oppressor striving to keep the population conforming to the rules, if the sunflower seeds are to be interpreted as the citizens of China. Freeland identifies interpretation as “a good interpretation must be grounded in reasons and evidence, and should provide a rich, complex and illuminating way to comprehend a work of art. Sometimes an interpretation can even transform an experience of art from repugnance to appreciation and understanding”. At first visitors might be confused by the artwork as it is a modern piece hiding its true meanings. Thus, some may not regard it as art. However, Ai makes his intentions for the artwork extremely clear. There is enough evidence in society to back up the connection Ai’s intentions have with the artwork.
In 2010, Tate Modern expected around two million visitors to come and view the artwork over a period of six months. For this reason and for the fact that many of his artworks gain global media attention, Ai can be credited with a widespread influence Ai has on the modern art world. Ai’s influence and notoriety contributes to the globalization of art. Since its original opening in 2010 the Sunflower Seeds have been displayed at 12 galleries in 11 cities and nine countries. This also attributes to the globalization of Ai’s artwork and can be credited to his widespread demand and popularity. Specifically, with the Sunflower Seeds two completely different societies are brought together through the medium of art. Moreover, because visitors for three days were allowed to walk on the artwork some would take a single porcelain sunflower seed home. Tate Modern did not condone this but nonetheless it did happen. On the other hand, the stealing of the porcelain sunflower seeds does contribute to globalization of art. It can be assumed that the Tate Modern welcomes visitors from all over the world. Thus, when the visitors return home to their respective countries with a piece of art one can also assume that stories will be told about this single porcelain sunflower seed and the intention, ideas, feelings, and thoughts behind it.
