Workers at work in the London Borough of Waltham Forest - October 2010
Nowhere to be ravenous in the allotment garden of Nowhere in particular.
I indulged in Ai Weiwei’s, Sunflower Seeds, at Tate Modern. I suggest the installation was not thought through sufficiently and so it has disappointed some visitor expectations.
Jonathon Jones (the Guardian) refers to the situation as one of ‘miscalculation’ and that (its’) interpretation in the absence of physical contact might be ‘vague’. In the humdinger or humdrum of commentary which followed his post, a reserve army of art world auxiliaries is envisaged as ravens called en masse to deafening song. Are there as many as a hundred million singers in this auxiliary - just one high fired porcelain seed for each and every ravenous bird?
Up to 2 million visits were/are expected. The curator, Juliet Bingham (in an update of 22nd October) indicates the decision, ‘in consultation with the artist’, to cordon off the sculpture is intended to protect people from repeated inhalation of dust. The ‘people’ most affected or exposed would be Tate Modern’s staff and I applaud this decision which respects the health and safety of the staff and visitors.
I’ve read Ai Weiwei wanted people to walk on the seeds and the decision to restrict access disappointed him. While I imagine the crushing trudge of predominantly western feet en masse would have provided a poetically and politically rewarding grotesque image - I wonder if the disappointment is also that he and his fellows will not be able to roll around on the floor laughing and crying at some of the ridiculous or trivial interventions (or immersions) the turbine hall installations have elicited. I count my own flapping reflections amongst these.
The situation is all the more comic in the recent darkness of Ai Weiwei’s house arrest and David Cameron’s diplomatic trade mission in China. Mr Cameron is unlikely to have made the journey by slow boat, opting instead for jet propelled bids to cut the trade deficit between the People’s Republic and ‘Not as Big Britannia’. I imagine there was a collective sigh of conservative relief that there is still confidence in the UK turbine despite a trail of wing fragments strewn across Indonesia.
Up to 2 million visits were/are expected. The curator, Juliet Bingham (in an update of 22nd October) indicates the decision, ‘in consultation with the artist’, to cordon off the sculpture is intended to protect people from repeated inhalation of dust. The ‘people’ most affected or exposed would be Tate Modern’s staff and I applaud this decision which respects the health and safety of the staff and visitors.
I’ve read Ai Weiwei wanted people to walk on the seeds and the decision to restrict access disappointed him. While I imagine the crushing trudge of predominantly western feet en masse would have provided a poetically and politically rewarding grotesque image - I wonder if the disappointment is also that he and his fellows will not be able to roll around on the floor laughing and crying at some of the ridiculous or trivial interventions (or immersions) the turbine hall installations have elicited. I count my own flapping reflections amongst these.
The situation is all the more comic in the recent darkness of Ai Weiwei’s house arrest and David Cameron’s diplomatic trade mission in China. Mr Cameron is unlikely to have made the journey by slow boat, opting instead for jet propelled bids to cut the trade deficit between the People’s Republic and ‘Not as Big Britannia’. I imagine there was a collective sigh of conservative relief that there is still confidence in the UK turbine despite a trail of wing fragments strewn across Indonesia.
But of course we are perched on the edge of our seats waiting to see how our leader walks and talks on the delicate tissue of sunflower paper that is ‘human rights’ in China. Should he or should he not put his foot down a bit harder and tell them off for being so naughty. Our man in Beijing says be reassured there is an ongoing dialogue. Pull the other one, Dave. I can hear a chorus of cackles from the depths of some very dark craws. Big Dave’s dialogue may amount to a sunflower head from which he ‘daisily’ plucks the petals - tell them off, don’t tell them off, tell...... The chorus must be very distracting.
‘Made in China’ may conjure images of vast factories producing, often via sweat shop conditions, huge quantities of very cheap merchandise. I believe working conditions for many in China are deplorable and not what the average western worker expects. Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ this week exposed the highly unethical means of production here in the UK (Leicester) which puts such cheap clothing in our high street shops.
‘Made in China’ may conjure images of vast factories producing, often via sweat shop conditions, huge quantities of very cheap merchandise. I believe working conditions for many in China are deplorable and not what the average western worker expects. Channel 4’s ‘Dispatches’ this week exposed the highly unethical means of production here in the UK (Leicester) which puts such cheap clothing in our high street shops.
The documentary/expose consisted of secretly filmed fashion manufactory in conditions cited as ‘third world’ or ‘sweatshop’. ‘Archipelago of Truth’ (blog) points to the incompetence of the UK Border Agency in tackling illegal immigration and how this endemic problem contributes to sweatshop industry. Walthamstow, Waltham Forest, is, he claims, home to a contingent of exploited illegal workers and businesses colluding in the global flow of cheap labour and merchandise. Is there a job here for artists, to paint pictures of the dark corners of E17’s grinding mill. How should the artists be paid, if at all, to illuminate the failings of fellowship closer to home?
Some of the exhibits in the ‘Inspired by Morris’ show at William Morris Gallery comment directly on the inequalities of capitalism - Alke Schmidt, Susie Vickery and Stephen Kenny for instance. This evening (10th Nov’), David Mabb gave a talk which guided the audience through a thicket of artistic appropriations pointing out ways William Morris’ designs can be understood in contemporary contexts. In these we can ask for what sort of labour is the reward, life and what sort of life do we expect?
Some of the exhibits in the ‘Inspired by Morris’ show at William Morris Gallery comment directly on the inequalities of capitalism - Alke Schmidt, Susie Vickery and Stephen Kenny for instance. This evening (10th Nov’), David Mabb gave a talk which guided the audience through a thicket of artistic appropriations pointing out ways William Morris’ designs can be understood in contemporary contexts. In these we can ask for what sort of labour is the reward, life and what sort of life do we expect?
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