The Tate Modern, a behemoth of a museum tucked inside a former power plant, devotes its main turbine hall to a single temporary exhibit. Currently the space features an installation by the Chinese artist Ai WeiWei: 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds. Seen from above it pretty much looks like a gravel pit, but at ground level it's much more impressive and nuanced. Originally, visitors were invited to walk through the seeds, but it kicked up so much dust that it was deemed a health hazard and now it's roped off. Just a couple of days after we saw the exhibit, word came that WeiWei had been arrested by the Chinese government for "anti-economic behavior." He has since disappeared. The Tate now has a giant sign hanging from its roofline saying "Release WeiWei." No one knows if, or when, that might happen.
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