I think it’s quite narrow-minded. There wasn’t much encouragement or opportunities for any artist – not just Chinese artists.
AI WEIWEII have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
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We grew up in a very material-lacking socialist society, but today China is a capitalist society. It’s very materialistic. It’s full of desire and luxury goods.
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[Therefore] holding a trial outside the court. I think that is fairness, that is justice, that is a civil society. Otherwise call it an evil society because everything is hidden.
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You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.
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I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn’t move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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Society becomes very destructive.
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That’s why I always question this sense. The feeling of home really requires a lot of trust. It requires you to identify with it, which I always find myself very contradictory to.
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I never think any place is better than others.
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I loved New York — every inch of it. It was a little bit scary at that time, but still, the excitement was so strong — visually and intellectually. It was like a monster.
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Of course, people will call you an old artist or young artist, which is just a character of you.
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[Being unique] gives so much privilege to people who can make it, rather than having some moral and aesthetic discussions.
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Technology is a liberation. I think the information age probably is the best thing to happen to the human race in human evolution.
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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.
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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
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It also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts.
AI WEIWEI