Ai Weiwei, the world-famous artist, is snapping my picture. We're 25 minutes into an interview at the hotel room where he's staying in Beverly Hills when I glance up from my reporter's notebook to find Ai's iPhone trained on me; his lined, often inquisitive face is screwed now in concentration as he tinkers with the focus on his phone. I pause mid-sentence and stare, waiting for some kind of explanation: Have I asked a threatening question? Do I have something on my face? Am I going to appear in his next MoMA exhibit, probably looking self-conscious and slightly alarmed? None comes; he's still playing with his phone, clearly more adept with a touchscreen than any other 60-year-old I've ever met.
I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised: Non-stop self-documentation has long been both a statement and a safeguard for Ai, who is an outspoken critic of his native China. It was his opposition to the regime—recording his monitored, heated confrontations, and even physical abuse at the hands of Chinese authorities—that helped Ai achieve international fame. It was also his opposition that inspired his Chinese supporters to meet with him in person, despite close monitoring by the Xi administration.
Ai will later Instagram my picture (#nofilter), just as he will Instagram the photos of other journalists visiting him that day. It's all part of his daily routine for documenting his life on Instagram and Twitter for his cumulative 700,000 followers—in between major exhibitions, public performances, and documentary releases.
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