At the moment about 350,000 students return to China from abroad each year – 350,000 young and educated people. I know about them because they know me and often ask me in the street if they can take a selfie with me.
AI WEIWEIMan 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.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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The American experience influenced my understanding of individuality, basic human rights, freedom of expression and the rights and responsibilities of citizens.
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If people are being abused or even killed during an arrest, this is highly disturbing.
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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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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.
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I also doubt a man can give really clear reasons for anything.
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The world is not changing if you don’t shoulder the burden of responsibility.
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It’s like the mountains, the ocean and the rivers. It has its own geological forms. Societies cannot be flat. But during change, human rights, human dignity and free speech have to be protected. Otherwise, we’ll be going backward.
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If there is no freedom of expression, then the beauty of life is lost. Participation in a society is not an artistic choice, it’s a human need.
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Nowadays, China is experiencing the detrimental effects of such decisions. Its citizens have no creativity.
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I never had secure, belonging feelings with this society [in China].
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Of course, most luxury goods in China are for corrupted officials and their relatives. And that made China become the biggest luxury-goods market.
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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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Freedom of expression is a very essential condition for me to make any art. Also, it is an essential value for my life. I have to protect this right and also to fight for the possibility.
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In China, we don’t have any contemporary art museums. Until a few years ago, we didn’t even have a gallery.
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For artists and intellectuals today, what is most needed is to be clear about social responsibility, because that is what most people automatically give up. Just to protect yourself as an individual is very political.
AI WEIWEI