We never really see the global situation as a total situation. Today’s political leaders are still lacking of the vision.
AI WEIWEICreativity 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.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
-
-
Somehow, we [ Tan Dun and director Chen Kaige] were all privileged at the time; we could be outside of China. But at the moment, we had no sense of what the future was going to be like.
AI WEIWEI -
I curated this show [Shanghai Biennale ], I was by no means trying to shock people or be controversial.
AI WEIWEI -
You know about the fantasies related to the classics, but there is no real discussion about today’s life and no discussion of the real conditions – which is really sickening.
AI WEIWEI -
For those actors and directors who produce films which are always about the old kingdom or about heroes.
AI WEIWEI -
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 WEIWEI -
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 -
China hasn’t only existed for one day. Now, the whole nation has become richer and it’s become a problem. The problem is universal. The factor is big. Everybody has to rethink the balance of the world and the whole landscape.
AI WEIWEI -
Many people are going to use [Beijing National Stadium], which makes it more meaningful. If we don’t design it, somebody else has to design it.
AI WEIWEI -
As a human being, member of society, you must clearly state your mind. It’s a responsibility. It is the way you identify yourself otherwise you don’t know who you are and why you are here.
AI WEIWEI -
Stupidity can win for a moment, but it can never really succeed because the nature of humans is to seek freedom. Rulers can delay that freedom, but they cannot stop it.
AI WEIWEI -
I think it’s more important to show your work to the public.
AI WEIWEI -
Imagine one day, the hateful world around you collapses. And it is your attitude, words and actions that put an end to it. Will you be excited?
AI WEIWEI -
Liberty is about the right to question everything.
AI WEIWEI -
Without freedom of speech, there is no modern world, just a barbaric one.
AI WEIWEI -
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 -
I don’t think [price] reflects if the work is good or bad.A good artist shouldn’t be nervous about that.
AI WEIWEI -
You’re still being looked at as somebody who – it’s a very complicated issue.
AI WEIWEI -
Of course, there [in China] has to be chaos. It has to be crazy, and I don’t think there’s anything wrong about it except this government, which is really incapable of doing anything meaningful.
AI WEIWEI -
These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
AI WEIWEI -
I want people to see their own power.
AI WEIWEI -
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 -
Life is much more interesting when you make a little bit of effort.
AI WEIWEI -
Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
AI WEIWEI -
The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.
AI WEIWEI -
I think my stance and my way of life is my most important art.
AI WEIWEI -
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