A Tate Modern security guard discusses his views off record
Due to growing fears for health and safety the Tate Modern has announced it will close Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds exhibition in the Turbine Hall.
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei presented visitors to the Tate with a fully immersive experience in which they could walk across and play in the porecelain seeds.
The work consisted of millions of small porcelain pebbles hand painted to look like sunflower seeds.
Public opinion was positive on the opening day of the exhibition as many walked straight out onto the seeds.
Alex Graham from Oregan, USA was being buried in the seeds at the time of interview;
‘I like it, the way you can experience and touch it. It isn’t every day you get to be buried.’
Fears Over Dust
Many visitors and a security guard at the Tate who did not want to give his name mentioned the amount of dust created by the seeds.
The Telegraph reports that due to the high volume of human traffic staff at the gallery noticed,
‘A fine dust rising from the seeds as people crunched them underfoot.’
Medical journalist Jodi Dixon from London spoke about the risks;
‘There is so much dust here, people keep getting up and brushing themselves down and then wishing they hadn’t ventured into the middle of it all.’
Closures
From now on the public can only view Sunflower Seeds from the bridge above the hall.
The Telegraph spoke to Leanne Metcalf, Director of Research at Asthma UK, who was happy about the decision;
‘Visitors walking over the porcelain sunflower seeds have inadvertently created a cloud of potentially damaging porcelain dust in the air which, if breathed in, can have a detrimental effect on lung function due to the silica which is found within it.’
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