This so-called contemporary art is not a form, but a philosophy of society.
AI WEIWEIBeing an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.
More Ai Weiwei Quotes
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I was an illegal alien for many, many years. I couldn’t move. If I moved I could not even get a visa back.
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I don’t believe in a sense of home.
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Maybe [success] is because I’m in China and I’m more open. Maybe it’s my independent behavior, or because I participated in certain projects. I have no idea.
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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.
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I never felt like a Chinese citizen because I was pushed away at a very young age. My father, a writer, was a national enemy of the Communist Party. He was forbidden to write for 20 years.
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Creativity is part of human nature. It can only be untaught.
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I don’t think there is a distinct change, because in the West I’m not a person who can serve his purpose.
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They very often just try to cope with their own election, their own popularity, solving the problem or selling the ideas to meet their own voters. By doing that, it creates a great imbalance in terms of making deals or treaty or all those things.
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I always want to design a frame that’s open to everyone. I don’t see art as a secret code.
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I think of art as coming from daily life, daily experience. I think it’s very important not to have it become work for some kind of elite circle.
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I think everybody deserves freedom. Freedom is such an abstract word, but it’s all we need.
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These folks are creative and ironic, and the government can ultimately not control what is going on in their heads.
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I think it’s quite narrow-minded. There wasn’t much encouragement or opportunities for any artist – not just Chinese artists.
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I’m just bringing them to Kassel to see the art show, and pay their room and board.
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New York has given me a lot, but I still don’t consider it home.
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