If human rights are supposed to have any meaning, then they have to be discussed openly.
AI WEIWEIIt’s very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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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.
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Maybe [success] is because I’m in China and I’m more open. Maybe it’s my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.
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By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.
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To the media, I have become a symbolic figure, critical of China. According to the government, I am a dangerous threat.
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Hopefully, other successes aren’t like me. It carries much more meaning to other people; my success story is irrelevant. It doesn’t make any sense.
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You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it’s empty.
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Every day I’m learning something new from the practice. It’s very rewarding.
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I think it’s more important to show your work to the public.
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I think China is laughing about the results of the presidential elections. China, Russia, they all laugh about it.
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Society becomes very destructive.
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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.
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We are not on – even just a step away from the most brutal and primitive crudity. To be very crude on those issues, which is always challenges and we always have to look at the situation like a mirror, to draw some understanding.
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A clear understanding of such differences will help the rest of the world understand China and all that is happening to the nation.
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For me, it is OK as long as I can breathe, as long as my heart is pumping, as long as I can express myself.
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I have people working together, doing different things: architecture, art installation, photography, publishing, and curatorial works and design.
AI WEIWEI