Sunflower Seeds

E209002

Sunflower Seeds is a large-scale installation artwork by Ai Weiwei consisting of millions of handcrafted porcelain sunflower seeds that critique mass production, individuality, and Chinese social history.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Sunflower Seeds canonical 2
葵花籽 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (48)

Predicate Object
instanceOf contemporary artwork ⓘ
installation artwork ⓘ
artisticIntention to explore the boundary between art and commodity ⓘ
to question the value of the individual in a mass society ⓘ
to reflect on Chinese political history ⓘ
artMovement contemporary art ⓘ
associatedWith Ai Weiwei’s critique of Chinese government policies ⓘ
global contemporary art discourse ⓘ
collection Tate collection (partial holdings) ⓘ
commissionedBy Tate Modern ⓘ
countryOfOrigin China ⓘ
creator Ai Weiwei ⓘ
criticizes dehumanizing aspects of industrial labor ⓘ
mass production in China ⓘ
depicts everyday object ⓘ
sunflower seed ⓘ
displayMode floor carpet of seeds ⓘ
later displayed behind barriers for health and safety reasons ⓘ
employs Chinese porcelain artisans ⓘ
exhibitedAt Tate Modern ⓘ
exhibitedIn Turbine Hall ⓘ
genre conceptual art ⓘ
installation art ⓘ
hasPart handcrafted porcelain sunflower seed ⓘ
millions of individual seeds ⓘ
hasTitleInChinese 葵花籽 ⓘ
linked to: Sunflower Seeds
inception 2010 ⓘ
languageOfWorkOrName English title ⓘ
locationOfFirstPerformance London ⓘ
linked to: London, England
mainSubject Chinese social history ⓘ
Mao-era political imagery ⓘ
collectivism ⓘ
consumerism ⓘ
individuality ⓘ
labor ⓘ
mass production ⓘ
materialUsed porcelain ⓘ
notableFeature each seed is unique despite mass quantity ⓘ
produced by large teams of artisans ⓘ
numberOfItems over 100 million seeds ⓘ
partOfSeries Unilever Series at Tate Modern ⓘ
productionLocation Jiangxi province ⓘ
linked to: Jiangxi Province

Jingdezhen ⓘ
symbolizes Chinese people under Mao Zedong ⓘ
consumption and waste ⓘ
the relationship between individual and collective ⓘ
technique hand-painting ⓘ
traditional porcelain-making techniques ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Ai Weiwei → notableWork → Sunflower Seeds ⓘ
Sunflower Seeds → hasTitleInChinese → 葵花籽 ⓘ
linked to: Sunflower Seeds