Fairytale (2010, 2h32)

Fairytaleis one of Ai’s two contributions for Documenta 12 in 2007. For this project, Ai brought 1,001 people (including himself) from all over China to the city of Kassel in Germany. They were chosen through an open invitation posted on his blog. Ai designed clothes, luggage and a dormitory in an old textile factory for the visitors. He let them wander around the city during the exhibition time of three months. The participants were divided into five groups that each stayed in Kassel for a week. According to Philip Tinari the primary design object here is not the clothing or suitcases but the participants' experiences, even their spirits.

He was also commissioned to create another sculpture at Documenta 12, titled Template. During the exhibition, the monumental outdoor piece made of wooden doors and windows from destroyed Ming and Qing Dynasty houses (1368-1911), collapsed after a storm.