It became like a symbolic thing, to be “an artist.” After Duchamp, I realized that being an artist is more about a lifestyle and attitude than producing some product.
AI WEIWEIHad I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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A lot of the time [in the U.S.], I was thinking about how spending time is always questionable or is always the biggest obstacle in my life.
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Behind every political deal in this country, the first casualties are always the ordinary people, who are barely treated as human.
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The deadly weapon against totalitarian society is openness – doing everything very openly on the Internet, letting people know every detail, any little development. Once it is out there, everybody can make their own judgement.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.
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It’s the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything.
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Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.
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In China, we don’t have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn’t even have a gallery.
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Nothing is clear-cut. Perhaps I’ll find my way – or get totally lost.
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As a person, I was born to give out my opinions. By giving out my opinions, I realize who I am.
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I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
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Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.
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I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
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After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
AI WEIWEI