Today, we continued our discussion of Installation Art. We began by taking a peek at Ai Weiwei’s piece called “Sunflower Seed.” In this piece, what you see is not what you really see; what you think you see it not what the piece means. Each seed is may look like it is a real sunflower seed, but it is actually made out of porcelain. Weiwei notes that when looking at this piece, some of the viewers pick up the seeds and even try to eat them, not realizing that they are hand crafted.
The seeds form a seemingly infinite landscape in the gallery space. This piece carries personal associations with Mao Zedong’s brutal Cultural Revolution (1966-76). Weiwei states that as he got more involved in art, he sensed that an individual has to set an example in society. His art shows the relationship between the individual and the masses. “Sunflower Seed” and the seeds themselves raise several questions regarding the role of the individual in society. Are we significant or powerless unless we act together? Weiwei sees art as a tool to set up new questions and to discover new answers.
We see the process of making the seeds all the way through to placing them in the gallery space. There are thirty steps to making the seeds and over 1,600 people were involved in the process. WOW! This shows how artists work with mass production and they cannot work alone. Artists like Weiwei have to rely on other collaborates to help him along the way.
I had no idea how intricate this process was, nor would I have thought that the seeds were porcelain unless I researched the artwork. I think it is incredible the patience these workers and artists are. Where does someone come up with such an idea? Sunflower seeds would have probably been one of the last things to cross my mind. Watching the workers go through all the steps was torturous because I was getting frustrated just watching. I have no idea how they just sit there painting so perfectly for such a long amount of time. It definitely made me realize how much patience I DON’T have.
Another Installation Artist we discussed was an American artist, Allan McCollum. His inspiration and influence roots back to his uncle’s TV show called “Learn How to Draw.” McCollum, like Weiwei, wanted to work with unique quantities. He notes that a lot of emotion comes out of something so large. You can either be in awe of what is in front of you, or run out of the gallery space in horror.
McCollum became interested in people working in homes. His piece “Shapes of Maine” displays the work of different artists in Maine, of whom he has never even met. He shows us how he works with drawings on his computer, putting either four or six pieces together to form a unique shape. He states that he would love to be able to make an object for every person in the world, but it is nearly impossible. It is his hope that we as a large force can eventually agree on one object to represent everyone as a whole.
I think both Weiwei and McCollum are really depicting strong ideas within their artwork. All of their artwork is carefully articulated and placed within the gallery space. They put a lot of time and thought into what they are creating and placing in the space they have to work with. Both artists touch upon this idea of individualism and coming together as a stronger force as well. I think they both show this in their work because they come together with other people and have so much other help rather than working alone like some other artists. Their pieces may not look very deep, but they represent something much more thought provoking than their literal appearance. I think the time and effort put into these pieces is incredible and truly admiring. It seems like such a simple idea to put sunflower seeds on the ground or to place drawings on tables, but there is so much more to these pieces than we know as viewers.
-Kristen
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