Ai Weiwei sells DIY art kit through hardware store Hornbach

Ai Weiwei has launched a new project, Safety Jackets Zipped the Other Way, in collaboration with German hardware retailer Hornbach. The work consists of orange safety jackets linked together and hung on a steel pole structure, available for purchase online in configurations of four, five, or seven jackets, with prices ranging from €150 to €500. Buyers assemble the piece at home following instructions and receive a certificate of authenticity. The project references Ai's late-1980s works using buttoned raincoats and his recent installations on migration featuring life jackets and dinghies. The artist states the work is for people who are not necessarily museum visitors or collectors, emphasizing that its meaning can be created by anyone. The article criticizes the project as superficial, questioning how a pre-packaged kit by an international star can be considered democratic art, and draws parallels to Joseph Beuys's social sculpture, Marcel Duchamp's readymades, and surrealist assemblage.