Last October one hundred million sun flower seeds filled the Turbine hall of London’s Tate Modern. The massive sculpture (or tiny sculptures) was the creation of chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and each seed was carefully hand-made from porcelain by a thousand or so people over two years in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen.

You would have been very lucky to have the privilege of directly interacting with the display – for only a few days after it opened, the exhibit was closed to the public due to a fine dust rising in the air from the seeds, the result of crunching under foot, a hazard to asthma sufferers and anyone with breathing difficulties. In the end people had to view from a platform above, taking away one of the main objectives of the show – to interact, feel, touch and experience. Such a shame!

I would have loved to have rolled around in it. Did you see the exhibition?

In researching this work, I was shocked to discover that Ai Weiwei had been detained by Chinese authorities, quashing his freedom of speech as an artist. There’s a petition going at the moment to demand his release, if you’re interest in signing go here.

Images via The Art Life // Destroy what bores you // The guardian

About Ingrid Schroder

A Sydney-side freelance graphic designer, photographer & yoga teacher - I find myself turning to nature for guaranteed revival from the crazy pace of city life - be it digging in my garden, capturing natural beauty through a lens, floating in the ocean, practicing yoga or out exploring this incredible planet we all call home. Follow me on twitter @Cohabitaire