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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom

Ai Weiwei

I have to respect my life, and free expression is part of my life. I can never really silence myself.
AI WEIWEI

Expression Free Respect Silence
Politics is like air and water. And you know if there is bad politics. Everyone is polluted. Everyone is unhealthy. See the people walking on the street: how they act.
AI WEIWEI

Air Bad Everyone People Politics Polluted Unhealthy Water
I don’t think my father had a direct influence on me, but I do think, more or less, I was influenced by his independent individualism.
AI WEIWEI

Direct Father Independent Influence Thinking
I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
AI WEIWEI

Emotion Emotional Man More Old Physical Poetry Problem Together
I’m just bringing them to Kassel to see the art show, and pay their room and board.
AI WEIWEI

Board Bringing Country Pay Place Room Show Them
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
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
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

Classic Condition Discussion Fantasies Related Sickening Today
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

Delay Freedom Human Moment Nature Stupidity Succeed Winning
To experience poetry is to see over and above reality. It is to discover that which is beyond the physical, to experience another life and another level of feeling.
AI WEIWEI

Above Beyond Experience Feeling Over People Physical Poetry Reality
People have a tendency to become elite rather than to care about the general conditions of the society, which makes me sick. It’s an unbearable condition.
AI WEIWEI

Care Condition General Make People Sick Society Tendency
Creativity 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.
AI WEIWEI

Aside Creativity Imagination Past Potential Reject Seek Status
Everything is selected by the central government without good judgment or an understanding of culture to make it really safe. They will become nobody to maintain their power and be raised to the next higher level.
AI WEIWEI

Central Culture Everything Government Make Understanding
Everyone of us is a potential convict.
AI WEIWEI

Convict Everyone Potential
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

Artist Attitude Lifestyle More Producing Realized Symbolic Thing
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

Anything Country Crazy Meaningful Think Thinking Wrong
A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.
AI WEIWEI

Fairytale Music Nation Tragedy
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
For years, I refused to go to any openings, not even my own.
AI WEIWEI

Opening Own Refuse Year
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

Behind Contact Discrimination Expression Ignorant Leave Marrow Minded War
I think I’m just a traveler. When you walk across a river and there’s no bridge, you build one. I’m used to having to deal with Chinese Communist ideology.
AI WEIWEI

Bridge Build Chinese Express Humanity On Thinking Traveler
Even if there have been setbacks during these past years, China is changing. China’s society is opening.
AI WEIWEI

Changing Country Opening Past Society Year
This week, the world gathers in Beijing for the 2008 Olympic games. This is the extraordinary moment China has been dreaming of for 100 years.
AI WEIWEI

Country Dream Extraordinary Game Gather Moment Week Year
If artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
AI WEIWEI

Artist Dignity Else Right Speak Then
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
Now you have the equal opportunity to equip yourself through information and knowledge and express yourself as an independent mind.
AI WEIWEI

Equal Equip Express Independent Information Knowledge Mind Opportunity
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

Creativity Discuss Healthy Openly Thought Wish

I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom

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I think art is a very important weapon to achieve human freedom

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