Blog-Backlog_Day Three_B

Ai WeiWei

An installation at the Tate Modern, in the Turbine Hall, was done by Chinese Artist Ai WeiWei. The floor of the enormous hall was coated with"sunflower seeds" (made from porcelain). The piece had several layers, speaking to globalization, working class, Chinese politics (Chairmen Mao is symbolized by the sunflower) and technology of the past and present. There was the installation and an informational video from WeiWei, explaining process and some concept. I found the piece, humbling due to the contrast of the flatness of the work, and the vast number of seeds with respects to the scale of the space. It was really awe striking. I really appreciate industrial architecture, steel beams, enormous ceilings, especially in repurposed spaces, I find brilliant. Therefore further enhancing the gray tones of the the space with the blur of seeds from a distance was aesthetically pleasing. To me it was all the play of industrial gray from Manet's Rail Station Series, with the awe of color scale of Rothko.

Politically speaking, I have a few more questions, with respects to the "Made In China" phenomena. I image the workers were paid well, but were they given above or below minimum wage? While the piece gave work the village for 2 or so years, what is to become of the economy now? At what point does it go beyond self service of a community? I really would have like to have seen more credit given to the 1600 or so workers who made the seeds because they became a blur, similar to the way each individual seed does when put in the large pile. If that was the point, this parallel of individuals, blurred in the grand scheme of things, at once labored over carefully, but then when tossed in the larger picture becoming anonymous, I don't find that politically relevant. I find it completely exploitative of a position, by someone who is well known, who isn't didn't have a hand in the labor process, save for overseeing. To me, that really falls short, while something is always better than nothing, for a community that is craving work, why not create lasting infrastructure, if you can.