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.
AI WEIWEIMy typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.
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Had I to create a name for these times, I’d say it is the age of craziness
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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.
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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.
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In my life, I often make so-called major decisions by very quick, immediate responses.
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It’s very essential values that we all have to protect. But in Chinese society, people are giving up on protecting these values.
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It’s the place they take you before they give you over to the judicial system. You stay there for a year or two and they make you really suffer to confess everything.
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I have always stated I designed the stadium as a toilet seat.
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I think U.S. and China is a big opportunity, to be seen as partner or some kind of strategic partner maybe. But those kind of powers have a way of getting too big, then we’ll have competition.
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The Internet has established a public sphere and developed a pressure which the government can no longer ignore.
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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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To work in architecture you are so much involved with society, with politics, with bureaucrats. It’s a very complicated process to do large projects.
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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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I also have to speak out for people around me who are afraid, who think it is not worth it or who have totally given up hope. So I want to set an example: you can do it and this is OK, to speak out.
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Man has a tendency to try to give clear reasons to be rational, but often you can see how all those reasons are not convincing and turn out to be a big nonsense.
AI WEIWEI