Ai Weiwei - "Sunflower Seeds"

-Looking at the picture above, the artist Ai Weiwei is holding what seams to appear to be sunflower seeds, in actuality what is he holding?

He is holding porcelain replicas of sunflower seeds.

-How are the "sunflower seeds" made? (please explain in detail)

The porcelain production process requires about thirty stages, but once those stages are complete the porcelain is put into sunflower seed molds and let harden. After they are hard, they are popped out of the mold and checked for incomplete seeds. The workers are divided into groups, a different group taking on a different job. Then they are painted and fired. Each worker produces a bag of sunflower seeds that is weighed. They are scooped and then washed. Then put into boxes and weighed again.

-Would this project be more or less successful if he used real sunflower seeds for this installation at The Tate Modern?

The project would be less successful is he used real sunflower seeds because they could be broken easily and they had no effort put into creating them.

-What is the meaning behing the materials used in this art work?

The town in China where they are produced is famous of creating porcelain.

-What is the purpose/meaning behind this installation?
It symbolic of the famine and propaganda associated with Mao’s reign.

What does the sunflower seed represent?
The sunflower seed represents all the people who are loyal to Chairman Mao's party.