Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seed

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Many individuals would consider art a way to express oneself. The endless possibilities give so much room for artists to spread a message, while creating artwork that can be appreciated by many different audiences. Different audiences interpret art in their own way which allows artists to reach a larger group of individuals. Ai Weiwei utilized art as a way to not only express himself, but to also bring attention to issues surrounding his community. Ai Weiwei was born in Beijing, China and grew up in a Communist home, with a poet as his father. Growing up in this environment, Weiwei began to form his own opinions on social issues. He quickly became a human’s right activist and decided to express his ideas through art. Ai Weiwei uses art as a form of expression to highlight current issues in the world in hopes of sparking change. Ai Weiwei balances many different mediums, styles, and …show more content…

Many art critics have written about this piece and analyzed the meaning behind his work. To create this piece Weiwei used porcelain, paint, and approximately 100 million sunflower seeds. This piece is displayed in a large neutral room and the ground is covered by these sunflower seeds. Every sunflower seed displayed in this installation was hand painted which shows the audience the time and detail the artist put into the work. The seeds are meant to represent the population of China since they are widely popular in this country. The porcelain was used in this piece as a symbol for wealth and power because this medium was used in the Emperor’s court in China. This piece represents the idea of the porcelain holding together all of the seeds which all look the same. In other words, the government (the porcelain) controls the population of China (the seeds), and uses its power to shape China into a uniformed country. Weiwei does this to represent the lack of freedom and rights in his

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