100 million little pieces: Ai Weiwei at Tate Modern

Having been veiled in secrecy until now, Chinese Conceptual artist Ai Weiwei's installation for Tate Modern's Turbine Hall opened in London yesterday to critical acclaim. 

Sunflower Seeds, on view until 2 May 2011, is made up of 100 million hand-decorated porcelain pieces created over two years by 1,600 specialists working in small-scale workshops in the Chinese city of Jingdezhen. The effects of the installation are multi-layered: the casual act of walking on the work’s surface contrasts with the immense effort of its production; Ai has said that the seeds are representative of times in his life when sunflower seeds were the only food source available - a desolate situation that contrasts with Mao's use of the sunflower in his propaganda; and, more than anything, the fact that each 'seed' initially appears identical, but actually unique, the artist invites us to look more closely at the ‘Made in China’ phenomenon. 

Dubbed the Chinese Warhol, the artist is famously outspoken about the politics of his native country: he collaborated on the design for the Bird's Nest Stadium for the Beijing Olympics but later boycotted the opening ceremony after saying the games were simply a show of military muscle. 

Follow the link to the Daily Telegraph's gallery for the Sunflower Seeds installation.