A massive, impressively delicate yet drab exhibit called “Sunflower Seeds” in the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall is surrounded by a thin wire with small signs that prohibit trespass. They warn that the millions of seeds are made from porcelain, which after careful study were found to generate harmful particles (dust?) if visitors walk on them.

Nothing really prevented anyone from stepping over the wire, and foot-prints could be seen in the seeds from previous visitors, but while I stood there with a very small group everyone refrained from testing the rules.

The scene from the wire’s edge looked like this:

I had planned to write a post on what I saw as the irony of this exhibit. I mean why not just use actual sunflower seeds, rendering it non-toxic yet achieving the same visual effect?

Was industrialized production of sunflower seeds into a featureless, toxic, expensive and labor-intensive exhibit meant to be a representation of China’s rapid economic expansion? I do not believe so, since the signs of toxic dust admitted they were an afterthought. An observer of the exhibit next to me confirmed this as she said the artist had intended for people to walk on it.

So why not use actual sunflower seeds? Was the porcelain to emphasize and criticize the labor intensiveness yet lack of aesthetic of mass production? It was food for thought (pun not intended).

The night following my visit I contemplated how a sunflower farmer in Kansas might look at a giant floor covered with seeds differently from the Tate Modern curators concerned with visitor health. When I turned on the evening news I watched a report that said Ai Weiwei had just been detained by Chinese authorities.

A British reporter interviewed his wife who said the Chinese authorities had taken Weiwei away under charges of “economic crimes”. They then showed a Chinese government spokesman giving very short and cold responses to questions at a news conference. Here is a paraphrase:

British news reporter: “Why have you detained Ai Weiwei? The British demand to know when will he be released.”
Chinese government spokesman: “China is a country that respects the rule of law. Other countries have no right to interfere.”

The exchange reminded me of how Chinese regulations weave their way into the book Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China by Leslie T. Chang. Her writing sometimes can be a little over-the-top and one-sided, yet she openly admits to being a reporter with a message (the experiences of young women) rather than a historian.

An insider view suggests that China is a country ruled by judgement and selective enforcement of the law, just like practically every other country in the world.

Beijing passed many regulations to bring the network-sales [pyramid scheme] industry under control, but local governments rarely enforced its orders. This was partly because the companies brought welcome tax revenue and employment to local areas, and partly because moonlighting as a chuanxiao distributor was a popular sideline for government officials.

The arrest of Ai Weiwei made me more curious than ever about the exhibit. The relevance of his art to compliance went from back of mind to front. This, along with other reasons, led me back to the “Sunflower Seeds” for further review.

I first noticed the outside of the museum was updated with an official sign of protest. The word “release” had been added since the day before. Management either was unhappy with his detention, or realized people like me would be curious about how they viewed the situation and be enticed to visit, or both.

I walked inside. It felt different. There were larger groups, to begin with. People crouched by the wire’s edge around the exhibit, rummaging in bags. Everyone had been standing up the day before. Odd, I thought, so I took a photo.

I then started to walk upstairs to the balcony when I was practically knocked over by a small Chinese woman with a backpack running down. Had I not stepped aside she might have launched right over me. I remember thinking “whoa, what’s the rush; not like those seeds are going away”…I reached the top, looked down, and realized what was unfolding (pun not intended). In only a few minutes the exhibit was covered with paper protest images. The balcony was filling to capacity with quiet onlookers. An empty railing had become packed with people pushing forward to see.

It is always an electrifying experience to be in and around a protest like this one. As the papers spread to every corner the balcony erupted into applause. Flashes fired and photographs were clicking all around me. I took a series of photos of a little girl as she carefully placed her stack of papers; she paused for a moment and turned to acknowledge the crowd.

The idea of common purpose and shared values came to mind. A peaceful protest in a free art gallery seemed like a nice way to spend the day.

Just as the value of Ai Weiwei’s art seemed to be increasing by the minute and taking on new meaning, the museum sent a volunteer out to inform everyone they had to leave the exhibit as it was now closed. He said it had become too crowded. We were unwittingly being roped into a protest and the museum was stepping in to shut it down. A few onlookers started to argue with him, but he kept saying he was just the innocent messenger and they would have to leave and talk with management. Presumably he meant the museum’s management, not China’s.

Some of the crowd started to leave while others continued to argue with the volunteer. Another man lowered black cloth barriers to prevent access to the balcony area — stop the crowd from growing. He squeezed himself into a spot from where he could be less conspicuous. I thought it curious how he tried to disappear from notice, and even more curious that the barriers were not remotely controlled.

At that point I complied with the orders and went outside to sit on the grass to watch and listen to further protests. The group that had distributed the papers came and sat by me as they talked amongst themselves and with the press. A man dressed as a bunny eventually showed up with a little protest sign. A larger sign was soon handed to him…

I have to say I was a bit disappointed with the sign “Weiwei is an artist not a criminal”. It could say he is not a criminal, but to suggest any artist is mutually exclusive from a criminal is not a very persuasive, let alone logical. Perhaps no one cared if it was taken literally, as it was carried by a giant white bunny.

The above images are only a subset of those I took as I observed the tension caused by enforcement of questionable regulations. I thought some others might be interested in them too.

The case of Ai Weiwei is worth a read. More details, including the list of charges, can be found on Ai Weiwei Watch.