Ai Weiwei, 'Sunflower Seeds', 2010
The Tate has bought 8 million of Ai Weiwei’s ‘Sunflower Seeds’ with the assistance of the Art Fund. The pile, that can be installed as either a flat square or conical pile (as above) contains just under a 10th of the total number used in the artist’s installation in Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall as part of the Unilever Series in 2010. While the cost of the work hasn’t been disclosed, 100 kilograms of the seeds were sold at Sotheby’s last year, with each seed from this sale fetching the equivalent of £3.50.
