Hipstamatic

Eleven Minutes Past Five, originally uploaded by gary8345.

As I have mentioned previously, I have used my iPhone as a camera to document my fellow commuters. I have also recently discovered a photography app called Hipstamatic.

I had been looking at purchasing a toy camera e.g. Holga, and then I heard about this app. You can chose different lenses, different film types. I have been playing around with this app for a little while, and it produces some really interesting pictures of simple subjects, such as the clock above.

Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds

I recently paid a visit to the Tate Modern to see the latest art installation in the huge Turbine Hall. Until 2nd May 2011, the space has been covered 100 million individually hand made porcelin sunflower seeds (Kui Hua Zi). It took 1,600 people two and a half years to manufacture the number the artist needed to make the piece.

As part of this installation, The Tate are showing a video showing the artist and how the sunflower seeds were made. It also gave some insight in to why the artist chose sunflower seeds as his subject. Ai Weiwei mentions that during the famine years under Mao they were one of the few reliable sources of food, comfort and social interaction. For him they symbolise the Chinese people. Seen through his eyes, the piece is a powerful political statement about the relationship between rulers and the ruled in China.

The Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei’s installation was meant to be an interactive experience. When it first opened, you were allowed to walk over the seeds, however the dust it created was deemed as being too harmful, and now the whole area is cordoned off, and you can view only from a distance. I must admit, it is an amazing sight. The number of seeds is quite mind-boggling, its just a shame that the installation is not how it was first intended.