337
Ai Weiwei
Swatter (P. 81)
2007
Gilded brass multiple.
21 1/8 x 4 3/8 x 1/4 in. (53.7 x 11.1 x .6 cm)
Incised 'Edition for Parkett 81 No. 18/55' on the handle, additionally signed and numbered 18/55 in felt-tip pen on the accompanying certificate of authenticity (there were also 25 in Roman numerals), published by Parkett, Zurich and New York.
Full-Cataloguing
"I make the useful become not useful . . . It is a basis for dealing with perception and when you think about how people use an object, you're also using so-called knowledge in the sense that 'useful' has a meaning. The meaning is the use. And that plays a great role in human understanding and culture." – Ai Weiwei in conversation with Jacques Herzog, Parkett No. 81, 2003