Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds at Mary Boone on 24th. They will be on display there until February 4th, I believe.
They were astonishing to see in person. Intricate, mostly indistinguishable from the real thing (if you don’t know, these are thousands of sunflower seed facsimiles made from porcelain by hand), unassuming but powerful in their collected mass. I wanted to hear the dull roar of an ocean when I looked at these, or maybe white noise. Something that would mute and absorb any outside distraction. Five girls stood in two groups prattling on by the front corner of the installation for my entire visit to the gallery, which was just this one room with the seeds laid out like a rug or tapestry. I wanted a meditative experience with this piece before I even arrived to see it, so perhaps those were my own projections, but it was easy to settle in and forget yourself once you could let your eyes wander out and into the installation. How strange to see something so small in such a large amount! How unsettling to be standing there amongst seeds that cannot germinate! As objects they have only the potential to remain as they are currently. They can be moved, bought, sold, stolen, and stepped on but they cannot do what the actual seed does, which is to grow and to provide sustenance. Hm.
And yes more than anything I wanted to reach down and hold a handful of them in my palm. Alas, that is no longer an option.
This is a great video from the Tate that explains how the seeds were made, who made them, and more about the process of Porcelain. It is also great as you see Weiwei raking the seeds, which is really quite a beautiful image.
