Mystery Over Turbine Hall Closure

Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds, the newly-opened installation in Tate Modern's Turbine Hall, was closed today for what appear to be health and safety reasons. The Guardian reports that one visitor was told the seeds were creating a "cloud of porcelain dust" as people walked over them. So far the official word from Tate staff is that the installation is undergoing "essential maintenance", and there's no indication when it will re-open. The gallery has form when it comes to people injuring themselves in the annual, Unilever-sponsored series: several people hurt themselves tripping over Doris Salcedo's Shibboleth in 2007, while a pensioner busted his nose by walking into the wall of Miroslav Balka's How It Is last year.