I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
AI WEIWEII think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
-
-
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.
AI WEIWEI -
I think by not letting young people be fully informed, how can they have energy and passion and the right picture of the world? I think that’s the true crime.
AI WEIWEI -
Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
AI WEIWEI -
People have been longing for this moment, because it symbolises a turning point in China’s relationship with the outside world.
AI WEIWEI -
After I came back [to China], there was still a long period of time when I felt I had nothing to do.
AI WEIWEI -
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.
AI WEIWEI -
You start to see the society, how it functions, how it works. Then you have a lot of criticism about how it works.
AI WEIWEI -
The IT people who have made such an effort to know and understand computer technology. They are frustrated that you cannot use Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in China. They are the first to recognize that the situation is terrible.
AI WEIWEI -
A small act is worth a million thoughts.
AI WEIWEI -
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.
AI WEIWEI -
I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.
AI WEIWEI -
If civil society has nobody who protects the law, then what kind of society is that?
AI WEIWEI -
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.
AI WEIWEI -
Many people are going to use [Beijing National Stadium], which makes it more meaningful. If we don’t design it, somebody else has to design it.
AI WEIWEI -
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 -
The rest of the world understands little about China’s changes and the possibilities and crises that come with them.
AI WEIWEI -
Civilization has evolved toward more acceptance, understanding and tolerance of global thinking. If we accept differences, our creativity booms. It makes life much more colorful.
AI WEIWEI -
But personally, I don’t think my work and my understanding of art is so much related to being Chinese, but the character of that. Maybe it’s beyond my own consciousness.
AI WEIWEI -
During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.
AI WEIWEI -
I’m an artist who is always looking for what is possible. I’m always looking to extend the boundaries.
AI WEIWEI -
The freedom of speech is an important yardstick for a society’s level of civilization.
AI WEIWEI -
Liberty is about our rights to question everything.
AI WEIWEI -
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 -
The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.
AI WEIWEI -
The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
AI WEIWEI -
You have so many museums in the West, and so many shows, you need somebody to show the work, otherwise it’s empty.
AI WEIWEI