I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who’s like a child.
AI WEIWEIEveryone wants an iPhone, but it would be impossible to design an iPhone in China because it’s not a product; it’s an understanding of human nature.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
-
-
The United States is a melting pot. Like John F. Kennedy said, it’s a nation of immigrants. But Donald Trump wants to build a fence that clearly makes the statement: “You and I are divided.
AI WEIWEI -
A historical property has morals and ethics of the society that created it and it can be revived. What I mean is that we can discover new possibilities from the process of dismantling, transforming, and recreating.
AI WEIWEI -
I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
AI WEIWEI -
I wouldn’t say I’ve become more radical: I was born radical.
AI WEIWEI -
I think the government regrets having Sina Weibo, but they cannot shut it down. That would definitely be suicidal.
AI WEIWEI -
I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.
AI WEIWEI -
This world should be much more open and should be much more free, so the young people would have the chance to exercise the quality of their lives.
AI WEIWEI -
Your own acts tell the world who you are and what kind of society you think it should be.
AI WEIWEI -
[Cultural departments] don’t care about culture. Maybe they’re the furthest from the people who understand culture.
AI WEIWEI -
I am very much interested in the so-called useless object. I mean, it takes perfect craftsmanship, beautiful material carefully measured and crafted, but at the same time it’s really useless.
AI WEIWEI -
If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
AI WEIWEI -
I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.
AI WEIWEI -
Selling high or low doesn’t mean anything. It has to do purely with the market.
AI WEIWEI -
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.
AI WEIWEI -
The only way to avoid misunderstanding, war and bloodshed is to defend freedom of expression and to communicate with sincerity, concern and good intentions.
AI WEIWEI -
I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it’s very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.
AI WEIWEI -
There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
AI WEIWEI -
If there is no free speech, every single life has lived in vain
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 -
I spend a lot of time talking to journalists.
AI WEIWEI -
The whole attitude of society has become much more open and realistic. They realize that the only way to make a more democratic and free society is to let different opinions come out.
AI WEIWEI -
They’ve become part of a conspiracy, collaborators of the crime, which is lying to the general public and trying to hide the kind of criminal acts happening in many cases.
AI WEIWEI -
The intention to separate art from politics is itself a very political intention.
AI WEIWEI -
The relationship between the Chinese government and me is like a Cold War.
AI WEIWEI -
You don’t have to march on Tiananmen, but you do have to be clear-minded, to find your own means of expression.
AI WEIWEI -
I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
AI WEIWEI