I want people to see their own power.
AI WEIWEII 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.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don’t think art is elite or mysterious. I don’t think anybody can separate art from politics.
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[Cultural departments] don’t care about culture. Maybe they’re the furthest from the people who understand culture.
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That’s why the country can’t face up to open competition – unless it resorts to measures like North Korea.
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I lived there [ in New York City] as an artist, but never as a Chinese artist.
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These are nonviolent people who have lost their freedom simply because they expressed their ideas….In truth, they are heroes of our time.
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If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
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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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The people will always have the last word – even if someone has a very weak, quiet voice. Such power will collapse because of a whisper.
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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.
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The [China] government has improved in the last years. Of course, the structure is still the same; there’s still a one-party system and strong censorship.
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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.
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Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.
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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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Whenever there is injustice, there is tension. But in China it is very hard to release your anger unless you burn yourself or you jump from a bridge. In a society where there is no freedom of the press, it is difficult for victims to be noticed.
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In the end, I think, the state’s rigidity is a function of its own insecurity, its indecisiveness.
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It [success] is really by mistake.
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I think by shattering it we can create a new form, a new way to look at what is valuable – how we decide what is valuable.
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Through my work and ways of expression, I strive to engage in dialogue with the society that I am living in.
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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.
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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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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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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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The project or a few ideas which are not finished or if there are possible directions and what will lead into another game. It’s always like setting up some kind of game you can continuously play.
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Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
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I don’t think China should care if this crazy old guy should have a show here or not.
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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