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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.

Ai Weiwei

I don’t belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
AI WEIWEI

Controlled People Select System Working
I think it’s more important to show your work to the public.
AI WEIWEI

Importance Important Public Thinking Work
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
As a total activity – I practice curating, art, architecture, writing, and publishing all together. I still act as a living creature.
AI WEIWEI

Activity Architecture Art Living Practice Publishing Together Total Writing
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 believe [the architecture firm] Herzog and de Meuron and our collaboration made the product the best it could be.
AI WEIWEI

Architecture Believe Best Collaboration Made Product
It is to wonder about the world, to understand the nature of people and, most importantly, to be shared with another, old or young, known or unknown.
AI WEIWEI

Another Importantly Old People Shared Understand Wonder World Young
I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.
AI WEIWEI

Another Five Hundred Million Necklace Pearl Pound Thinking
If there is no freedom of expression, then the beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s a human need.
AI WEIWEI

Artistic Beauty Choice Choices Expression Freedom Need Participation Society
The society was so different [in China] – it was a feudalistic society. It didn’t come to a point of industrial revolution until twenty years ago.
AI WEIWEI

Come Country Different Feudalistic Industrial Point Revolution Society Twenties Year
Now I’ve come to such a mixed culture: America, Europe, South America, Africa. And the politics are changing everywhere all the time and becoming even more unpredictable.
AI WEIWEI

Changing Country Culture Politics Problem Unpredictable
The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
AI WEIWEI

Country Experience Expression Individual Responsibility Right Understanding
The motivation is really to say people can find the game of getting involved interesting and find the problem and really have the passion and the enthusiasm to solve it and move forward, but that’s all I know.
AI WEIWEI

Forward Game Involved Motivation Moving Passion People
How to become a really modern society when today we are so – as a human being, we feel so powerful. We have high technology and a superb way of controlling our life. And at the same time, in many ways we are so primitive.
AI WEIWEI

Being Feel Human Modern Powerful Society Technology Understanding
The so-called culture nowadays is only a fake one with a superficial front. It is an empty lie.
AI WEIWEI

Culture Empty Fake Lie Lying Nowadays
It’s not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China’s problems are not just China’s problems – they’re human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one.
AI WEIWEI

Always Control Ideology Country Human One Problem Worked
A few thousand are to be built in the next few years, all using taxpayer money. But there is no system, no research, no content, no good programs, no good managers.
AI WEIWEI

Built Content Good Manage Research System Taxpayer Thousand
I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom
AI WEIWEI

Achieve Art Freedom Human Important Thinking Weapon
The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.
AI WEIWEI

Developed Established Government Ignored Internet Longer Pressure Sphere
I was in the most restricted prison in China, the most tough. The design of the prison is modeled for internal crimes of the Communist party, so it’s like a mafia family’s law. It’s independent to the law this nation openly applies.
AI WEIWEI

Country Crime Independent Internal Modeled Most Party Prison Restricted Year
Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that’s the 1980s. New York in the ’80s was not so interesting.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Encouragement New York
In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.
AI WEIWEI

Abstract Care City Country Enough Large Nobody Quite Stuck
We move so fast that memory is something we can only grasp
AI WEIWEI

Grasp Memories Move Moving Something
Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
AI WEIWEI

Learning New Practice Rewarding Something
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

Different Evolution Immigrant Nation Thinking
I think China is laughing about the results of the presidential elections. China, Russia, they all laugh about it.
AI WEIWEI

Country Election Laughing Man Presidential Thinking
I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who’s like a child.
AI WEIWEI

Child Children Ginsberg Person Thinking

A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.

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A society is healthy only when it allows its members to discuss their thoughts openly. This is also the only way that a society can gather consensus, let everyone express his or her wish, and foster creativity.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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