Exclusive Ai Weiwei 'Panda to Panda' print available this month
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and US computer security researcher/hacker Jacob Appelbaum joined forces on an art project earlier this year, and now an exclusive image from the project is available to those who buy an EO1 high-definition screen.
Electric Objects' EO1 began life as a Kickstarter project, and interest was high for the screen dedicated to displaying art from the web. The screen made Time's list of the 25 best inventions of the year and is now available to order, with shipping expected to start in a few weeks' time.
The EO1's sales are sure to get a boost from its special Panda Edition, which is selling for $599 rather than the usual $499 but comes with a considerable perk: the device will feature a limited-edition image of Ai Weiwei and Jacob Appelbaum's collaborative "Panda to Panda" artwork.
The artist and the hacker, who represented Wikileaks at the 2010 Hope conference and was a confidant of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, collaborated in Beijing on "Panda to Panda," which consists of toy pandas that have been stuffed with shredded Snowden documents and SD cards.
They act as a backup of the information and have been distributed to museums and galleries in the US, China, Germany, Britain, Russia and Canada.
The project generated buzz back in June when "The Art of Dissent," a short film by Laura Poitras documenting the collaboration, was premiered by The New York Times.
Available as part of a limited run just for the month of October, the white Panda Edition EO1 comes pre-loaded with the art from the project and has a custom-made frame designed specifically for the image.
A portion of proceeds go toward Rhizome's Seven on Seven program, which fosters collaborations between artists and scholars. Rhizome commissioned AI and Appelbaum's project along with the New Museum in New York.
This is the first in a series of Electric Objects limited edition artworks that will be paired with custom EO1 frames.
