So, the politicians and the people who make decisions very often is the one we think can make some difference. But of course they will not make a difference if the citizens or the individuals not push it or not to speak out, to possess a very strong voice about, this is not acceptable.
AI WEIWEIIf artists cannot speak up for human dignity or rights, then who else will do it?
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I don’t care if this is a great cultural event or a national symbol. It has nothing to do with me. It deals with the city.
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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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I spend a lot of time talking to journalists.
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I think art certainly is the vehicle for us to develop any new ideas, to be creative, to extend our imagination, to change the current conditions.
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During the days in detention, I thought most about the moon.
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There isn’t a single Chinese university that can invite me to give a talk. Even though I know there are many students who would like to hear what I have to say.
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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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If it’s possible, I will have some noodles in the morning and start talking to people, start to think about a few things in my head.
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The Internet changes the structure of society all the time — this massiveness made of individuals.
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I think the pearls – one is a necklace, and another you have five hundred pounds of pearls, which may be one million pearls in a bowl – really show a kind of [society] condition.
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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.
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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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Even though everybody who looked at me would call me a Chinese artist, that’s the 1980s. New York in the ’80s was not so interesting.
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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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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.
AI WEIWEI