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I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.

Ai Weiwei

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.
AI WEIWEI

Artistic Beauty Choice Choices Expression Freedom Need Participation Society
To call yourself a Chinese artist or woman artist or African artist reflects a certain kind of condition. To me, that is not necessary.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Call Certain Chinese Condition Country Kind Reflect Yourself
Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it. I don’t feel that much anger. I equally have a lot of joy.
AI WEIWEI

Anger Art Equality Express Joy Life Much Separate
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.
AI WEIWEI

Artist Attitude Lifestyle More Producing Realized Symbolic Thing
I saw [Allen Ginsberg] more as an old man who liked poetry and who had a lot of physical and emotional problems. We liked our time together.
AI WEIWEI

Emotion Emotional Man More Old Physical Poetry Problem Together
If I really have nothing to do, I just watch my cats, take some photos, and go back to my personal blog.
AI WEIWEI

Blog Cat Nothing Personal Photo Really Watches
By participating in the society we live in, we understand our conditions and the way we relate to the world.
AI WEIWEI

Condition Participating Relate Society Understand Way World
It’s not really an ideology, but a method of control. But China’s problems are not just China’s problems – they’re human problems. Humanity has always worked better when you see it as one.
AI WEIWEI

Always Control Ideology Country Human One Problem Worked
It also makes humanity much more safe. If we see pureness somewhere as something to be desired, the trouble starts.
AI WEIWEI

Desire Humanity Make Pureness Safe Something Trouble
We literally lived underground. We dug a hole and lived there for years. My father cleaned public toilets, even though he was a highly respected poet.
AI WEIWEI

Cleaned Highly Hole Literally Lived Poet Respected Toilet Underground Yera
…photographs are facts, but not necessarily true… The present always surpasses the past, and the future will not care about today.
AI WEIWEI

Always Care Past Photograph Present Surpasses Today True
I think you can give meaning to any condition; you can be poor or unsuccessful or be so-called successful. But I don’t think that it would give an individual human being a better condition.
AI WEIWEI

Condition Giving Meaning Poor Successful Thinking Unsuccessful
My typical day is I wake up and appreciate that I can still wake up.
AI WEIWEI

Appreciate Typical Wake Up
The Internet is uncontrollable. And if the Internet is uncontrollable, freedom will win. It’s as simple as that.
AI WEIWEI

Internet Simple Winning
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.
AI WEIWEI

Art Circle Coming Experience Important Thinking Work
I think Allen [Ginsberg] was a person who’s like a child.
AI WEIWEI

Child Children Ginsberg Person Thinking

I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.

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I’m totally independent. I don’t bear any responsibility to any system.

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