Chinese artist Ai Weiwei poses with some seeds from his art installation 'Sunflower Seeds' in London. Britain's Tate gallery says Monday March 5, 2012, it has bought a work by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei made up of 8 million ceramic sunflower seeds. The Tate said that "Sunflower Seeds 2010" consists of 10 cubic meters (13 cubic yards) of seeds, hand-crafted by Chinese artisans. The gallery did not disclose the price. AP Photo/Lennart Preiss.
Britain’s Tate gallery has bought a work by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei made up of 8 million porcelain sunflower seeds — a portion of the 100 million he brought to London in 2010.
Tate said Monday that it had purchased “Sunflower Seeds 2010″ — 10 cubic meters (13 cubic yards) of seeds, hand-crafted by Chinese artisans, which can be displayed either as a conical pile or as a square or rectangular bed.
The gallery did not disclose the price. Last year Sotheby’s auction house sold a 100 kilogram (220 pound) bag of the seeds for 350,000 pounds ($550,000).
In 2010, Ai covered the floor of a 1,000 sq. meter (10,000 sq. foot) hall at London’s Tate Modern with almost 100 million of the seeds. Visitors were initially invited to walk or lie on them, but after a few days the ceramic dust was judged a health hazard and the exhibit was cordoned off. It still proved a hugely popular show.
The gallery said the seeds, a common Chinese street snack, represented friendship and compassion, raised questions of individualism and evoked the enforced conformity of the Cultural Revolution, when propaganda posters depicted Chairman Mao as the sun and Chinese people as sunflowers turning toward him.
You can read the full article via ArtDaily here.
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