black
grey
blue
red
brown
white

We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth; and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves.

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

Artist Encouragement New York
I never had a sense of home.
AI WEIWEI

Home Sense
So for too long Americans take liberty as granted. We think we are in the safe hand, the democracy and the liberty, which is not true. And it can be even getting much worse than today.
AI WEIWEI

Country Democracy Granted Liberty Think Today True Worse
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

Being Clearly Human Mind Responsibility Society State Way
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
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
In a society like this there is no negotiation, no discussion, except to tell you that power can crush you any time they want — not only you, your whole family and all people like you.
AI WEIWEI

Crush Discussion Except Negotiation People Power Time Want
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
A nation like China has become one of the biggest production fields for exporting cheap labor, which also re-questions our history and past, re-questions human desire, and the human illusions of the past.
AI WEIWEI

Biggest Cheap Country Desire Exporting Field Labor Past Production
I have to find a place for my own. I have to search for my own happiness.
AI WEIWEI

Find Happiness Own Place
I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
AI WEIWEI

Architecture Art Installation People Photography Publishing Together Working
You only have temporary curiosity, amusement, and challenges, but that does not necessarily mean you are really convinced that it’s necessary or that it’s not even worth to do it.
AI WEIWEI

Amusement Challenge Challenges Curiosity Mean Necessarily Really Temporary
To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It’s a very complicated process to do large projects.
AI WEIWEI

Architecture Ass Bad Badass Bureaucrats Complicated Criticism Involved Society
My definition of art has always been the same. It is about freedom of expression. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics. The intention to separate [the two] is itself a very political intention.
AI WEIWEI

Anybody Art Definition Expression Freedom Same Separate Thinking
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

Country Director Future Going Moment Outside Priilied Somehow Time
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

We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth; and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

We should also leave behind discrimination, because it is narrow-minded and ignorant, denies contact and warmth; and corrodes mankind’s belief that we can better ourselves.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Ai Weiwei Quotes