start?
ok
huh
yeah
At first people would have the impression those are real sunflower seeds. Because they are
fake seeds, it takes them a while to adjust their mind is they would always say:
Is that possible?
Then they would pick up a few
Some would even want to put them in their mouth to try.
I always think art as a tool to really set up new questions to create a basic
structure which can be open to possibilities. It is most interesting part
in my work.
I want people who don’t understand art
to understand what I am doing
Normally the porcelain production requires around 30 stages.
And you cannot really escape from it
The sunflower seeds are made in a town called Jingdezhen.
It’s about 1000km from Beijing.
In the old times, the whole town made porcelain for the Emperor’s court.
For generations people tried to refine the shape of a bowl or a vase.
And there was a very fixed language.
We have been working here for five or six years.
To try to find out what are the possibilities of employing the old technique to modern contemporary language.
They should be kept small.
Make it smaller.
Here we have an incomplete piece
Yes there is a missing bit, like a mouse has nibbled it.
Because of the quantity it takes around 1600 people
and more in this town so that means almost everybody
knows somebody making sunflower seeds.
Even the taxi drivers would take about it but nobody really understands.
If you tell them it’s for an exhibition, nobody understands why you have accept this.
This one you cannot find it anymore. This was from the time of Fu Jia Yuan.
I can’t take so many of these. Choose choose.
How much is this one?
50 RMB each.
I’ll give you 300 RMB
-This is 260 RMB -No, I’ll give 200 RMB.
I’ve bought so much, how can you charge this?
Yes it's a very funny position. You realise people start telling you
oh, he's the one making sunflower seeds and we really love your work and
can you give us more work?
- Are you happy to work on this? - Yes, yes!
Of course. It brings business
There is nothing much to do here anymore
The actual production is very much like in the old times.
You have a group of people working together.
Different people take on different procedures.
When it comes to the painting procedure. It needs the most people because
every side takes about three to four strokes.
The more skillful ones take three strokes, and some may take four or five.
You can also bring them home because that is a really the old tradition
people produce things at home
you know you can work for one hour then you have to feed your child
then you have to cook for your husband
maybe go out to buy vegetables then work for another half hour waiting for food to be cooked
that's really a good way to work.
She is the oldest amongst us.
Auntie, how old are you?
Me? Sixty
That’s good, just a little older than me.
Are you kidding?
I am over fifty.
So how long have you been in this trade?
Me? Over thirty years.
I have done this for over thirty years.
Colour painting?
Yes colour painting.
Did you ever paint… Mao Zedong?
I was working while Mao Zedong was still alive
but I never painted him.
Not everyone can paint him
In the political area
all the paintings have sunflower seeds.
Whenever Chairman Mao comes out, there are sunflowers around him.
That means Chairman Mao is the sun.
And all the people loyalto the party are the sunflowers.
Sunflowers supported the whole revolution, spiritually and in material ways.
Thanks for painting so many sunflower seeds.
No need to thanks me. After all I did earn some money from it.
How much effort did you put it?
How much effort?
After all, I have earned about 2000 to 3000 RMB.
They are all nice people
You feel like you might have to make some more
or make some other kind of project which can meet their needs.
I think the quantity we made for Tate is already beyond imagination
and it is going to be some kind of myth in the history of this town.