In this article, the author goes to an instillation piece exhibit at the Tate Modern in London. This piece is titled "Sunflower Seeds" and was created by Chinese artist,
Ai Weiwei. It is an instillation piece of an overwhelming amount of tiny porcelain pebbles painted with black slip in different patterns and then fired to look like sunflower seeds. The original idea of the piece was for the viewer to actually enter the ocean of "seeds" to be overwhelmed by how not only the amount of the seeds, but also to be overwhelmed by the fact that each one was different, much like a finger print. Unfortunately, the piece has lost its appeal because the viewer now cannot enter the instillation due to potential health hazards caused by the dust from the unglazed porcelain. Because of this now limited view of the work, the piece has lost some of its overwhelming and amazing qualities.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/arts/design/19sunflower.html?_r=1&ref=arts
Although it is sad to hear that the main point of this piece has been removed because of health reasons, I find the purpose of the piece to be amazing. Sometimes it is so difficult to feel what an artists is expressing in a piece. However, when it's purpose is to actually be felt by the audience, it becomes easier. I love the fact that the art was meant to be felt. Feeling a piece of art can change a person's opinion or feeling on the whole piece, and to me that is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of this is so beautiful. I agree with Bfoxy that artwork can be especially profound when it is interactive, when it engages the entire person, not only their eyes. I find it interesting how changing the original context of how people interact with the work can change what it means entirely, regardless of what the artist intended his work to accomplish. But I think that the piece is still lovely; considering how much care Ai put into crafting each tiny "seed" to create a massive work with these seeds altogether affects the viewer through an interesting blend of contradictory techniques--through little intimate details, and through the grand, awe-inspiring size of the piece as a whole.
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