black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

Ai Weiwei

Creativity is the power to reject the past, to change the status quo, and to seek new potential. Simply put, aside from using one’s imagination – perhaps more importantly – creativity is the power to act.
AI WEIWEI

Aside Creativity Imagination Past Potential Reject Seek Status
I don’t care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
AI WEIWEI

Care City Cultural Event Great National Nothing Seal Symbol
The leadership knows that you cannot solve the issues of China’s future with the means of the past. The demographic consequences of the one-child policy, the build-up of the welfare state.
AI WEIWEI

Children Country Future Issue Job Know Leadership Mean Solve
Just look at the statistics: Each university has tens of thousands of applications for students who want to be in art school, but they can only accept a few hundred.
AI WEIWEI

Application Art Look School Statistic Student Ten Thousand
You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.
AI WEIWEI

Criticism Function Money Society Star Turn Work
For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Giving Up Intellectual Mean Needed Responsibility Social
The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society’s level of civilization.
AI WEIWEI

Civilization Freedom Important Level Society Speech
I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who’s like a child.
AI WEIWEI

Child Children Ginsberg Person Thinking
I don’t think there is a distinct change, because in the West I’m not a person who can serve his purpose.
AI WEIWEI

Change Distinct Person Purpose Thinking West
The whole Chinese system – not just the political leadership, the military too, the whole power structure, our education system, the whole of society – is suffering from being cut off from the free flow of information.
AI WEIWEI

Country Cutting Educational Leadership Military Political Power Structure
It’s like the mountains, the ocean and the rivers. It has its own geological forms. Societies cannot be flat. But during change, human rights, human dignity and free speech have to be protected. Otherwise, we’ll be going backward.
AI WEIWEI

Backward Form Geographical Human Mountain Ocean Protected Right Speech
In the end, I think, the state’s rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness.
AI WEIWEI

End Function Indecisiveness Insecurity Rigidly Thinking
I think it’s quite narrow-minded. There wasn’t much encouragement or opportunities for any artist – not just Chinese artists.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Country Encouragement Minded Narrow Opportunities Think
The rest of the world understands little about China’s changes and the possibilities and crises that come with them.
AI WEIWEI

Country Crises Little Possibility Rest Understand World
The Internet is the best thing that ever happened to China. It turns us into individuals and also enables us to share our perceptions and feelings. It creates a culture of individualism and exchange even though the real society doesn’t promote it.
AI WEIWEI

Enable Feeling Giving Happened Individual Internet Real Turn
China is at a different stage of development, human rights are violated here much more often. And still, we see improvements even here.
AI WEIWEI

Country Development Different Improvement Indifferent More Much Right

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes