ai weiwei archive includes 6,830 rice paper sheets of printed tweets

a recently completed artwork by ai weiwei is presented for the exhibition ‘go east: the gene & brian sherman contemporary asian art collection’ at sydney’s art gallery of new south wales.

the renowned chinese artist premiers ‘an archive’, a physical chronicle of his social media commentary over the last 8 years. a total of 6,830 sheets detail ai weiwei’s twitter and blog posts from 2005 – 2013, recounting his memories, musings, and experiences as an activist and artist in china. printed on rice paper and laid out in the style of a traditional chinese textbook, each sheet has been individually designed, carefully composed, and realized at a printing press in shaghai. the accumulation of sheets are stacked in a traditional huali wood box.

detail of ‘an archive’, held within a traditional huali wood box

in regards to technology and its impact on culture and community, ai weiwei tells the creators project ‘social media is annoying and distracting in certain ways because we are familiar with an older lifestyle. the world today is very different. you can sit at your computer and, within minutes, you can see the best ideas and research on any topic. this is in conflict with our old habits, but there can be nothing better than this. human beings are not created equal and we have never had that opportunity. technology, especially with computers and the internet, has gone further than anything else in leveling the field.’

6,830 sheets detail ai weiwei’s twitter and blog posts from 2005 – 2013

the writings are printed on rice paper and laid out in the style of a traditional chinese textbook

via [the creators project]