Day 22: Apple Cider and Sunflower Seeds

Ai Wei Wei's Sunflower Seeds

Tate Modern

After I returned home from the Tate I unpacked my bag and took out all the brochures and pamphlets I had collected. I was exhausted from the long day of walking, and photographing more incredible art than I could ever consume in a single swallow, and plopped down on the bed. As I thumbed through one of the brochures I realized there was an exhibit I had completely missed and one that I wished I hadn’t! I had walked right by it.  

An infinity of seeds!

But, as I had learned from my day of modern art ascertainment, many modern artists beseeched their viewers for audience participation. Many of the pieces on display were created with the inclusion of the observer as part of the art, either through reflection, motion, or actual physical interaction. The exhibit I had missed, Ai Wei Wei’s ‘Sunflower Seeds’ predicted that the observer would "pass it by", dismissing his work as commonplace and unremarkable. And that is exactly what I did. I suppose I had indirectly contributed to the process of this piece and that made me feel a little less obtuse, but I had to go back and see it.

"Please do not remove any of the ceramic seeds"

The Unilever series at the Tate Modern, is a special, temporary installment that is usually commissioned. For this season they had Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei’s ‘Sunflower Seeds” on display. At first pass, the sea of grey “carpeting” on the floor of the industrial sized exhibit hall looked like gravel awaiting the placement of THE art installment and that is why I missed it the first time around. On closer inspection, and after reading the GIGANTIC sign that read “Sunflower Seeds” I noticed that the sea of “gravel” were not stones at all, but indeed sunflower seeds! On even further scrutiny, I noticed they were not even sunflower seeds, they were ceramic recreations of sunflower seeds!! Hundreds of thousands of them! And it was at this point that I stood there awe struck with mouth agape and jaw on the floor.

Each one hand painted

A "carpet" of seeds

The tremendous landscape of sunflower seeds edge to edge along the wall is a mesmerizing mind-twist, and one of the the most incredible sights I have seen thus far on my trip. But that coupled with the story behind them, made these seeds even more spellbinding. Wei Wei describes, in the 15 minute video that accompanies the display, that sunflower seeds are synonymous with China. Mao Zedong, he explains, was usually depicted as “The Sun” with the people as “sunflowers” surrounding him. Wei Wei, a conceptual artist, recollects that during the time of the brutal cultural revolution in China, though people were stripped of personal freedoms and flogged with propaganda, the sharing of sunflower seeds was a simple, but significant sign of human compassion.

Each one unique

Porcelain is also one of China’s prized exports. “Made in China” is almost synonymous with porcelain. But Wei Wei’s mind-bending sunflower husks are anything but “Made in China,” even though they are in fact, made in China. Employing over 1,600 workers in the porcelain village of Jingdezhen, he taught them to hand paint each and every single one of these ceramic seeds. The infinite sea of seeds were like the people of China themselves. At first their sheer numbers make them appear similar, and spectator indifference makes their homogeneity even more pronounced, however, like the seeds, on closer inspection, all the variables that make them unique in their own right, become apparent. Each person becomes unique in size, shape and color and each becomes a part of a larger whole. I was awe-struck by the power of this piece. Of its scale, its attention, its message, its detail, its intensity, its immensity. I was moved by the notion that a single man could craft such a forceful creation, with such pervasive humility, that it could be missed by a jaded onlooker such as myself. I was humbled by its message and grateful I came back to hear it.

Awed from below

I spent a long time around that exhibit, watching, learning and photographing it. I was glad I had made the trek on the Jubiliee Line to Southwark again just to see this. For all the floor space of “I don’t get it” pieces I saw there, this one made up for them with its singular clarity. 

Awed from above

So poignant was its presentation, that its power was undeniable. The second half of the day was to be dedicated to St. Paul, but Wei Wei wouldn’t let me go, and before I knew it, it was time to go meet Maya and James for dinner.

Maya and James met me at Angel Station, and this was a master feat in itself as we managed to pull it off without the use of cell phones or texting! We strolled along the drizzling sidewalks of Islington, toward the dazzling streets of the “night life.” 

Simply awe inspiring!

We found a great Italian place called ‘La Porchetta” (not to be confused with its knock off La Fourchetta just down the street) that Maya had known about and finished off a seductive bottle of white wine while conceding to our cravings of porcini risotta, meatballs, calzones and artery clogging desserts of marscapone. We were all, as Maya put it, “a bit prandial” to say the least, after that. But James and Maya were determined to introduce me to my first English pub experience and I was elated to finally go, so we soldiered on.

View of the seeds from above

Walking through  Saturday night streets filled with college students, some dressed in costumes, such as Fred Flinstone, just for the fun of it, I felt joyful and giddy. Perhaps it was the wine kicking in, perhaps it was the funny stories James was telling, but it felt just about perfect being outside on a damp, sparkly night in Islington. We stopped in at the Camden House pub and Maya bought us a round, while James explained to me the difference between lagers, bitters, ales and Guiness. The pub was packed and lively, with a young crowd mixing in laughter and pints. As I sipped on the lightly flavored apple Bulmer’s cider on ice that Maya recommended, I wondered why I hadn’t been going out to pubs every night since I’d been here. I’ve never been a beer drinker, but this apple cider was really good! I would have to put "pub-crawling" on the list of things to do.

Maya and my first apple cider

As we finished off the night in laughter and headed for the tube, I was tired and happy and grateful. Grateful for this paramount day of firsts, for friends and for apple cider and sunflower seeds.