Jack Shepard: The Independent

The artist Ai Weiwei has offered to buy 30 tonnes worth of buttons from a Croydon-based factory that is closing down.

Weiwei, who has previously created artworks out of thousands of Lego bricks and shells, was responding to a message on Twitter when he made the offer.

“I’ve been asked to share this call to save buttons from landfill,” the initial tweet by Amy Clare Tasker ‏reads.

The artist Ai Weiwei has offered to buy 30 tonnes worth of buttons from a Croydon-based factory that is closing down. …Read More

Image: Ai Weiwei holds some seeds from his Unilever Installation ‘Sunflower Seeds’ at The Tate Modern in 2010 ( Getty Images )