Warhol influenced me because of his writing. If I had never read his writings and interviews, I would never have understood his work.
AI WEIWEII think it’s a responsibility for any artist to protect freedom of expression and to use any way to extend this power.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I deal with students every day – from China, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong and Taiwan. And I’ve noticed that the Chinese students are the least trained in having a sense of aesthetics.
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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
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Otherwise, I think the building can be bigger, larger, and the city can be much more crazy. The problem is the government structure is so deadly stupid, not really solving problems but creating a lot of problems itself every day.
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The deadly weapon against totalitarian society is openness – doing everything very openly on the Internet, letting people know every detail, any little development. Once it is out there, everybody can make their own judgement.
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I came back [to Beijing ] because that’s the only time I had an excuse to come back, or otherwise I would never have a reason to come back.
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Maybe being powerful means to be fragile.
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The museums used to be exhibition halls for government propaganda, and now every city wants to build a museum.
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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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Once you’ve tasted freedom, it stays in your heart and no one can take it. Then, you can be more powerful than a whole country.
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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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Today, the general masses in this society are in this political-social condition that really encourages people to become rich and become a star and be unique.
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[Museums] all belongs to the cultural department, which is the biggest cultural department in the world.
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When you have strict censorship of the internet, young students cannot receive a full education. Their view of the world is imbalanced. There can be no true discussion of the issues.
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I don’t belong to a working system. They only select people if you belong to one so you can be controlled.
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Chinese government is very clearly losing power in every aspect, but trying to fix up all the problems or potential problems.
AI WEIWEI